2001 Blankiet Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Paradise Hills Vineyard
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Tasting notes
The 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon Paradise Hills Vineyard was one of the highlights of my tastings for this retrospective. Dark, plush and inky to the core, the 2001 possesses tremendous explosive intensity. Blue/purplish fruit, iron, leather, cedar, spice, chocolate and heavy torrefaction abound. Helen Turley made the 2001, a blend of 90% Blocks 7 and 8 (planted in 1998) and 10% Block 1. The wine very much reflects her style and the prevailing approach at many Napa Valley properties at the time. It's a towering wine that is in a great place today. Winemaker Helen Turley turned out a brilliant 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon for proprietors Claude and Katherine Blankiet. The 2001 is a wine of its era, there is no doubt about it, and yet it shows just how compelling the best wines of this period remain. In a word: brilliant. (AG)
Critic scores
Average Score
Robert Parker
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
More reviews and scores
Full medium ruby to the rim. Reticent aromas of black fruits, black licorice pastille, lilac and menthol. Dense and dark on entry, with a slightly inky quality overshadowing the wine's dark fruit sweetness. Very concentrated and dark but a bit gritty and bound-up, even dry, as if it did not receive enough aeration prior to bottling. Finishes with powerful, tongue-dusting tannins and limited sweetness. Dense and dark but a bit monolithic and ungiving. Will this ever soften? My sample did not change much with 48 hours in the recorked bottle.
Saturated ruby. Highly nuanced aromas of crystallized berries, tobacco, minerals, bitter chocolate, mocha and roasted herbs. Very cool and classy but backward cabernet, with subtly complex flavors of cassis, mocha, game and fresh herbs. Less flamboyantly ripe and sweet than the 2002, but distinctly claret-like in its finesse. Very firmly tannic today and perhaps beginning to shut down. A sophisticated cabernet that should enjoy at least 12 to 15 years of development in bottle. Both this and the 2002 version are 100% cabernet sauvignon. Although winemaker Helen Turley has a couple of new projects in the works, the Blankiet wines are currently her only set of wines in the market made from Bordeaux varieties.