Babcock "Classic Rock" Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 $16/Bottle

Here is a chance to be in on the ground floor --- ahead of the pack --- and with it comes “value”... Bryan Babcock, a more passionate & intense winemaker you’d be hard pressed to find.  His knowledge of the Santa Ynez Valley is unparalleled... In the eastern end of the Santa Ynez Valley, he started to recognize a phenomenon. He first saw it in the vineyards of the Happy Canyon area. Then, slightly west of there, in one of the Valley's newer vineyards, Estelle, he started to see images that can only be described as amazing. What these vineyards share are the mesmerizing colors in their rocks. Fire engine reds, cobalt and turquoise blues, every shade of yellow and brown imaginable, even a purple or two; they are all set in stone, in a seemingly impossible, yet perfectly natural way.  It is in these beautifully rocky vineyards that Santa Barbara County's most interesting Cabernet Sauvignon is now beginning to mature. Made from 85% Estelle fruit, this wine is like a beacon to the upcoming Cabernet renaissance. It has a refinement that always seemed to be missing in the Cabernets of our past. The wine's saturated color and flavor is a reflection of vines which have to endure the stressful reality of shallow, rocky soils. The nose is loaded with spicy, chocolaty boysenberry, and the flavors follow suit with ample, plush tannins. Its power and its balance is an expression of Cabernet grown in the right place. The rock that is featured on Bryan's label was plucked out of the NUCLEUS section of the Estelle Vineyard. Nucleus is one of the sections where the colors abound. Indeed, the most difficult aspect in the creation of this label was in having to choose one rock. Such a choice does not do the terroir justice. But, while the label conveys only one of the rocks, the wine is an expression of them all. A blend of: 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc, 7% Merlot & 5% Other Varieties.  Aged 17 months, 25% new French Oak. 1,500 cases produced.