Luna Vineyards Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2005

The deep blackberry color carries through on the nose, mingled with blueberries and anise. On the palate, there are more black fruits and graphite combined with a lush, velvety texture. The bright fruit flavors complement dusty tannins on the finish, like fine dark chocolate sprinkled with cocoa nibs. Our 2005 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon has a great deal of finesse, and we can expect it to be at its peak from 2012 through 2018.

91-93 Points, Stephen Tanzer’s International Wine Cellar, May/June 2007 “…a silky texture and noteworthy elegance. One senses that the winery did a very good job choosing when to pic

Our 2005 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is composed primarily of grapes from a hilltop vineyard on Atlas Peak. This sunlit vineyard is planted in Aiken Series volcanic soils, growing at an elevation of 2,200 feet. The balance of the Cabernet Sauvignon grapes came from a vineyard on the western-facing lower slope of Howell Mountain. 2005 was a cooler growing year resulting in a later harvest than expected. This growing season benefited the grapes with a longer hang time prior to harvest. We picked our Cabernet Sauvignon grapes in late October

In 2005, the hallmark of the vintage is the higher natural acids, which forecasts the excellent cellaring potential of this wine. We fermented these grapes for three weeks at warm temperatures, and followed with an extended three-week maceration, extracting the maximum ripe flavors and supple tannins. The wine was blended in January, 2007 adding Merlot and Cabernet Franc, to soften the tannins. After aging 20 months in 67% new and 33% neutral French oak barrels, the wine was bottled, unfined and unfiltered, in June, 2007

Braised beef short ribs, roasted porcini and parsnip puree.