The 2005 Bello Family Cabernet Sauvignon hails primarily from the St Helena appellation. Two choice Cabernet vineyards in the tenderloin of St Helena, west of highway 29 and at the base of Spring Mountain, bring the lush, opulent and viscous character associated with great Cabernet grown in this region. The 2005 growing season was one of the mildest on record that resulted in very late harvest dates that stretched well into late October and early November. Patience was rewarded however as tannin structure softened and provided the framework for powerful, structured and opulent wines. Eleven percent Merlot, also from St Helena, enriches the midpalate providing breadth and suppleness that off sets the intensity of the Cabernet Sauvignon. Twenty percent of the fruit was harvested from Mount Veeder and this provides the intense mountain character of the wines tannins that will insure long aging. All lots were individually harvested and fermented to insure the ultimate expression of each individual site. All lots spent between 20 and 30 days on skins to extract the maximum potential in each grape cluster and then were gently pressed in a basket press and run via gravity directly to barrel where the native malolactic fermentation occurred. The wine spent a full 12 months on primary lees, before being blended and returned to barrel for the last 10 months of barrel aging. The barrels were all French from two coopers, Saury and Sylvain and 100 percent new.
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