2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Hyde Vineyard

"Two thousand six started out tough, with lots of rain, which created too much vine vigor," said Paul Hobbs, "and it stayed damp, which means that we needed to keep our eyes open for botrytis." It was overall a cooler vintage than 2005, he added, which allowed for slow maturation without dangerous heat spikes. "There was a lot of rain at the very end of September and beginning of October, so it was a good idea to have your grapes in before September 29th," he told me. Two thousand five was a moderate, drawn-out season for the Napa cabernet vineyards, followed by a late, extended harvest, which began in the second week of October and carried on until the beginning of November. He expects "good but not extreme richness, smooth tannins, and very good complexity from these wines, especially compared to the 2004s."

Paul Hobbs's already sizable collection of single-vineyard bottlings continues to expand, with a pinot noir and chardonnay from the Ulises Valdez vineyard near Sebastopol; an estate-bottled pinot noir from Lindsay Vineyard, adjacent to the winery; a syrah from Kick Ranch east of Santa Rosa, and a chardonnay from the famed Ritchie Vineyard in the Russian River Valley. I tasted with assistant winemaker Pat Sullivan, who was especially excited to be working with fruit from the Valdez Vineyard. "Ulises is one of the most conscientious and perfectionist growers I've ever known," he told me. (Valdez owns a highly regarded vineyard management company and has recently introduced some of his own wines under the Valdez Family Winery label). Sullivan said that the 2005 harvest was one of the most drawn-out ever here, beginning on September 12 and continuing until November 2.