2010 Anakota Cabernet Sauvignon Helena Montana Vineyard
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Tasting notes
Saturated ruby to the rim. The nose shows more mineral lift but less fruit expressiveness than the Helena Dakota, offering hints of blackberry, cassis, menthol, flowers and spices. Sweet, dense and fine-grained but quite powerful too, conveying strong rocky minerality and verve. A bit less pliant on the finish than the Helena Dakota but the firm tannins are ripe and suave. Really stains the palate with violet. A higher-pitched wine than the Helena Dakota and a bit more tightly wound, reflecting its vineyard's somewhat higher altitude, but with its lovely floral lift and superb definition, this boasts outstanding potential for further development in bottle. (from a vineyard at 950 feet)
Critic scores
Average Score
Robert Parker
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
More reviews and scores
The 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon Helena Montana Vineyard is cut from the same cloth. Its opaque purple color and sweet creme de cassis fruit intermixed with crushed rock and forest floor notes lead to a broad, rich, full-bodied mouthfeel with excruciatingly high tannins and intense power and richness. It should be forgotten for at least a decade. Made by Kendall-Jackson’s Bordelais winemaker Pierre Seillan, these wines represent the pinnacle of what they hope to achieve in high elevation sites in Knights Valley, an area increasingly being utilized by Napa producers given the great success Peter Michael and Kendall-Jackson have had in this region. These limited production 2009s and 2010s made at high elevation vineyards (Helena Dakota is at 750 feet, and the Helena Montana is at 950 feet) have not yet been released. These highly extracted, rich, full-bodied wines may have limited appeal given their aging potential and broodingly backward characters. All of these offerings are 100% Cabernet Sauvignon that were aged in 100% French oak for 15 months prior to bottling. The alcohols came in between 14.2% and 14.8%. I gave slightly higher scores to the Helena Dakota cuvees, perhaps because they were showing more accessibility. Tel. (707) 431-3921
The 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon Helena Montana Vineyard stands out for its delineation and nuance. A vibrant, powerful wine, the 2010 faithfully expresses the signatures of this site. Violets, cloves, blackberry jam and white pepper all make an appearance in this luscious full-bodied wine. The 2010 is both a large-scaled and opulent, yet it also has great underlying intensity and tannin. Mocha, sweet spices and a hint of French oak inform the serious, intense finish. As always, the Helena Montana is sleek and polished. In 2010, it is particularly compelling.