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Item Number: 6992

UPC: None

Country: USA
Region: California Sub Region: Napa Valley
Appellation/AVA: Napa Valley
Vintage: 2011
Grape(s): 78% Cabernet Sauvignon / 9% Merlot / 9% Petite Verdot / 4% Cabernet Franc
Type: Wine - Red
Bottle Size: 750ml Pack: 12
Closure: Cork
Alc by Vol(%): 14.8


Vintage Notes: Banshee's Cabernet has never been about full throttle fruit, rather elegance with cut. So where others saw devastation in 2011, they saw a great opportunity to make something special. For most, 2011 Napa Valley Cabernet was a struggle. In general, if you’re a fan of voluptuous, full throttle Cabernet you’ll be hard pressed to find much in that category. 

A cold, wet spring led to a late fruit set, ripening was further hindered by a mild summer, and harvest dragged out through October & November when the weather turned rainy and cool. And the fact is, certain things just did not get as ripe as most would like. So here is where Banshee earns their stripes. 

With the also cool 2010 vintage freshly in their minds, they worked closely with their growers and dropped more fruit in late August once they saw how behind things were. This allowed the remaining bunches to ripen a small (but important) bit faster. Secondly, they did a massive culling of their various lots after harvest, selling off nearly half of their production on the bulk market, leaving them with only the very best barrels from the best blocks. And lastly they spent a lot of time blending and leaned more on other Bordeaux varietals than in past vintages. They had an incredible lot of Petite Verdot and a very charming piece of Merlot that played big parts here. 


The wine was aged with a bit less new oak than usual because of the vintage (70% new French oak, 30% neutral).