Beringer Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain Steinhauer Ranch 1998

Winemaker's Notes:

Each year since 1981, Beringer Vineyards' Winemaster Ed Sbragia has crafted his Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon by combining wines from a handful of selected Napa Valley vineyards that he knows from experience producing grapes of the highest quality. Ed finds the Cabernet Sauvignon from each vineyard is so distinctive in character that they act almost like separate varietals, allowing him to create intricate layers of aroma and flavor in his Private Reserve. The benefit of having so many diverse vineyards to choose from came into play significantly in the challenging 1998 vintage. The 1998 growing season started late as a result of cool, wet weather in the spring, and was prolonged when the cool weather continued into the summer. Winemakers Ed Sbragia and Laurie Hook, and vineyard manager Bob Steinhauer mustered all of their patience to wait for the maturity of flavors and tannins they were seeking. Harvest decisions where made, vineyard-by-vineyard and block-by-block, often picking areas of a vineyard four or five different times as the clusters completed their development. Ed Sbragia vinified and aged the individual vineyard lots of fruit from each vineyard block separately to protect their unique, microclimate-influenced aroma and flavor characteristics. During fermentation, macerations with gentle pump-over regimes were tailored to each lot and closely watched to get optimal extraction of color and flavor. Ed hand-selected new thin-staved French Never oak barrels to age the wines. "Choosing specific barrels to use with the different lots is as important a decision as any I make for the Private Reserve Cabernet," Ed explains. "Forest sources, aging regimes and coopers all play a part in the characteristics that a barrel imparts and I've found that the Seguin Moreau barrels from Nevers do a nice job of softly integrating with the wine." During the 23 months of barrel aging, Ed tasted the lots regularly to follow their development and make further selections, only allowing the best wines to go forward as potential reserve components - quality decisions that resulted in a case production that is approximately 30 percent of a normal vintage. After he determined that the wines had achieved supple tannins, Ed removed the lots from barrel and created his Private Reserve blend. He layered aromas and flavors of red fruit from the St. Helena Home with Chabot's distinctive black currant and hints of mint and cedar, and Tre Colline's lightly earthy, black and red berry characteristics. To highlight more dark fruit flavors and aromas, Ed added Cabernet Sauvignon from Bancroft Ranch and then completed the blend with a small amount of wine from Marston Vineyard that provided a perfumed scent of wild berries and its distinctive mineral earthiness. Wine Advocate | Robert M. Parker, Jr. | December 23, 2000Exhibits a dense ruby/purple color as well as a moderatelyintense bouquet of black currants infused with olive, smoke, licorice, and new oak. Supple, medium-bodied, and surprisingly evolved, with sweet fruit on the mid-palate and in the finish, it is a harmonious, charming offering to enjoy over the next 7-8 years. Wine Spectator | James Laube | November 15, 2002Well-balanced, with a lean, trim core of focused herb and mineral-laced currant and black cherry flavors...