Vintage Retrospective: 2005 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

Every wine region prizes most what it gets least. In the case of northern France that’s wall-to-wall sunshine. For California’s North Coast, it’s a long, dry growing season without extreme heat—conditions in which flavors and tannins can ripen slowly and completely without raisining of the fruit or plunging acidity levels. That’s exactly what happened in 2005. Not surprisingly, a delicious majority of the 100-plus 2005 Napa Cabernets I tasted this spring were aromatically complex and full of life, if not downright young.

Dalla Valle, Oakville

The 2005 Growing Season

Following significant winter rainfall, Napa Valley experienced an unseasonably warm spell in early March, raising the possibility of an early flowering and harvest. But from late March through early June temperatures were consistently below average and on-and-off rain continued, with near-record precipitation during the month of May. Luckily, temperatures remained cool enough that fungal problems did not generally take hold.