2006 Cabernet Sauvignon Helms Vineyards
Estimated value
Buying options
Tasting notes
Good deep ruby. Sexy aromas of meat, mocha, smoke and tobacco. Suaver and more sophisticated than the Lotus, with a silkier texture and a captivating mineral lift to the ripe flavors of redcurrant, mocha and tobacco. Showing much more personality today. Finishes with broad, ripe tannins and very good energy and lift. (I rated this 91+? in Issue 144.)
Critic scores
Average Score
Robert Parker
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
More reviews and scores
(from vines picked on October 26) Very good full ruby. Aromas of cassis, bitter chocolate and mocha. Supple and plush but firmly structured, with a slight youthful aggressiveness to the cassis and licorice flavors. Not yet as complex as the 2005, but this very young wine is sweeter and the tannins are nicely ripe.
The 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon Helms Vineyard possesses the vintage’s structure and power. While this vintage is more irregular than the 2005, it has a tendency to produce more masculine-styled wines with loads of concentration, but less charm and finesse (at least at this stage). The 2006s are somewhat reminiscent of the 1996s, which followed the brilliant years of 1994 and 1995. The deep ruby/purple-hued 2006 Helms Vineyard cuvee offers subtle notes of spicy oak intermixed with forest floor and new oak. It exhibits a powerful, dense, rich finish, but overall is less evolved than the seemingly more complex 2005. Proprietor Hi Sang Lee and his son, both from Seoul, Korea, have morphed this estate, previously part of the Livingston Vineyards, into three single vineyard wines, Helms Vineyard from Rutherford (500 cases), Lotus from St. Helena hillsides (225 cases) and approximately 100 cases of the Hershey Vineyard from Howell Mountain. Philippe Melka is the consulting winemaker, and beginning with the debut vintage in 2005, these are all impressive efforts. Tel. (707) 963-4365; Fax (707) 963-4975
About the producer
Located on the Rutherford bench, Dana Estates is a small Napa estate focused on producing fine, single-site Cabernet Sauvignon. The concentrated wines are some of the region’s most sought-after, regularly earning top ratings from critics – with 19 100-point scores to date.