The 2005 Ramey Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon is big, dense and brooding. It’s got a jam and tar profile with a nose and mouth full of black licorice, black cherry pie, sweet black currant, pipe tobacco, mocha, smoke and vanilla. The wines is layered with fine, sweet tannins and nice acidity. It should drink well over the next 6 to 8 years.

David Ramey is anointed royalty in the wine world. They guy has left his mark on a passel of great wineries including: Chalk Hill, Rudd, and Dominus (yes – he is the winemaker at that DOMINUS). Back in the day, before he became a hero to aspiring winemakers around the world, Dave had a decidedly academic approach to the vino. In 1979, he wrote his PhD thesis at UC Davis. The title: Volatile Ester Hydrolysis. It’s a real page-turner. In a nutshell, it’s a scientific breakdown of how flavors develop and evolve in wine. After figuring that out, Dave did a stint at the legendary Chateau Pétrus in Bordeaux. That’s where he learned to put the romance back in the equation. Ever since, his wines have been produced traditionally, with an eye to terroir over technology. In a country where winemaking is dominated by industrial advanced designed to mitigate risk, David Ramey is a big risk taker. He harvests his grapes as late as possible, risking a change in the weather, and his use of traditional, some might say outmoded, winemaking techniques would scare most young winemakers. But, for Ramey, the gamble pays off.

Here’s what the winery has to say about the 2005 Napa Cabernet Sauvignon:

A new bottling for us, this vintage is blended from 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 3% Malbec. The grapes come from the Snowden Vineyard (33%), on a rhyolitic (volcanic tufa) bench just outside the Rutherford AVA, next to Hall and Sloan, above the Auberge du Soleil; Somerston Vineyard (28%), in the eastern hills next to Chiles Valley; Jericho Canyon Vineyard (19%); Larkmead Vineyard (15%); and 5% from the Kelleher Vineyard in the Oakville AVA, behind Brix Restaurant.

Analogous to our appellation Chardonnays, this blend gives us the opportunity to work with a broad range of vineyards which offer the typicite’ of the Napa Valley, as well as providing a new tier to allow declassification of lots from our vineyard-designates, such as Larkmead and Jericho Canyon.

Ramey Wine Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, 2005
$43.95