2005 Herb Lamb Cabernet Sauvignon

The 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Herb Lamb Vineyard is a vineyard that Ann Colgin and her winemaking team made famous. The primary reason whay Colgin’s wines from this source show better than other wines that have emerged from the Herb Lamb Vineyard is because Colgin got the top 14 rows, the sweet spot in the entire parcel. Dense ruby/purple, with notes of graphite, a touch of bay leaf and lavender, the 2005 is spicy, cedary, much more evolved than the Dixon Hill, full-bodied with decent acidity, and very ripe blackcurrant fruit infused with a touch of unsmoked cigar tobacco. This is a beauty and best drunk over the next 5-7 years.

Deep ruby-red. Blueberry and licorice aromas complicated by tobacco and flowers and lifted by spices. Sweet, dense and lively, with lovely spicy lightness to the flavors of plum, rose petal and tobacco. There's something almost Burgundian about the texture of this wine. This boasts terrific energy and length, finishing with sweet spices and flowers and substantial tongue-dusting tannins. Vineyard management expert David Abreu took over here in 2005 and has taken this wine to a higher level by getting more uniformity of ripeness from this site.

Good bright ruby. Complex, scented nose combines blackcurrant, blueberry, violet, licorice, graphite and minerals. Suave and fine-grained if youthfully backward, with lovely inner-mouth energy and floral character. Very densely packed wine with a long, violety aftertaste. From the smallest crop to date at this vineyard.