2005 Vineyard Information
Growing Year & Vinification

The 2005 Danuta Cabernet fruit was estate grown at St. Helena Winery vineyards. Block 4, totaling 6 acres, St. Helena Appellation, yields some of the most intense fruit from its 101-14 rootstock and Cabernet Sauvignon clone ‘See, 191 and 337’ budwood. The pruning method is ‘cane’ style, administered and managed by Bulmaro Montes, a 40-year veteran whose acknowledgement within the industry finds him within the top three viticulturists in the Napa Valley. Periodically through the growing season, fruit is ‘dropped’ to maintain low yields (2-3 tons per acre), control the quality of the fruit and allow for consistent ripeness throughout the selected section in the vineyard block. The low yields allow the remaining fruit to gain more concentrated flavors and Danuta distinctive deep purple color. All fruit is hand picked, only when they reach the target ripeness of 25.6 Brix. Then, and only then, will the Winery harvest the fruit and bring it to the crush pad.


The 2005 fruit was hand harvested, on October 23rd into ½ ton bins. A normal spring led into a temperate summer with some warmer days in July, August and late September. The days remained sunny in October’s cool evening and warm afternoon weather pattern that followed. The long hang time helped our grapes to develop to a perfect balance, full maturity with maximum color. At the time of harvest, the grapes were hand picked, between 6:00AM and 10:00AM, at a temperature of not more than 48 degrees. This permitted the de stemmed grapes to ‘cold soak’ in the fermenting bins for 5 days, before allowing the natural yeasts to begin the fermentation process. This delay in fermentation enables the ‘must’ to achieve maximum extraction of color, flavors and aromas into the juice, thus allowing the enzymes of these elements to be extracted before alcohol is formed. St. Helena Winery’s approach to the wine making process makes for a more intense fruit forward and complex wine. After fermentation, the wine is placed into all new French Oak barrels, from four barrels manufacturers, with three different forest designations, with three different ‘toasting’ methods, and aged for about 23 months in St. Helena Winery’s cellars. Then in September, the wine was bottled, at the winery, and stored for bottle aging.