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Wine Description
The Story
This gently sloping site is relatively cool, and is protected from the intensity of the late afternoon heat during the height of the growing season. The gravelly loam soils provide excellent drainage and wonderful fruit purity. Helms Vineyard Cabernet displays the classic profile of the Rutherford Bench: dark fruit, richly layered with a touch of spice and earth. The finely grained “dusty” tannins so prevalent in the appellation are integrate...
Wine Information
Our philosophy of minimal intervention in the vineyard is realized through organic farming, a focus on soil health and minimal irrigation. The result is healthy vines that are balanced and produce thick skinned darkly colored grapes. This equates to wines with perfumed aromatics, precise flavors, and silky tannins. The mild summer and fall allowed for slow even ripening and we started harvest a two week later than average. The majority of the ...
Vintage 2018
The season started off with a dry January and February making us uneasy after the drought years of 2013-2016. However, March and April brought ample rainfall to fill the soil reservoir giving the vine ample access to soil nutrients. The later rains delayed budbreak a few weeks with the growing season starting in the first couple weeks in April. Mild temperatures in April and May brought steady canopy growth through bloom at the beginning of Ju...
