Napa’s Blankiet Estate & Tuscany’s Tua Rita
The 2004 Tua Rita was a beautifully elegant Italian wine from a magnum. Tobacco, leather and autumn leaves on the nose. Slight bricking, the fruit is still front and centre. Tannins are fully integrated. Medium weight fruit of cherries, flowers, sage. Good lift of lively acidity too. The merlot softens everything. The perfect Italian pasta wine.
The 2004 Blankiet 2004 was in a beautiful spot. The fruit was so elegantly displayed yet tame by Napa standards. Time in the bottle had no doubt assisted this development. Not overly complex but a true crowd-pleaser amongst my crowd of willing volunteers. Black cherries, soft blueberries, a touch of tobacco and dark tea. Completely integrated tannins. Surprisingly delicious as I had no expectations.
I smiled as I drank the Blankiet and I remembered back 10 or more years ago when I took 20 Vancouverites to the Napa Valley Wine Auction, as well as Ray Signorello's biannual wine event at Signorello Estate…
I was always a big fan of Claude Blankiet's wines in the early 2000s, especially his 100% Merlot- Rive Droit. A Frenchman who owned several textile factories in Texas and sold them to pursue his dream of owning a Napa valley Château. As he traveled the world, when running his textile factories, he collected several pieces of what would be his future castle, the Blankiet Estate. Situated high up on the hill above the Dominus Estate overlooking all of Yountville. He collected doors and tile and slate and several other items that would form part of the castle in the sky he was to build. And amazingly, like any young boy's dreams, he built a steeple of stone in his home with a spiral staircase that ventured up to a turret in the sky portraying a vast expansive view to all of the valleys below. Claude was a consummate gentleman and tremendously generous and accommodating host the day we crashed his home. His lovely Texan Wife joined us too. But at the end of the tour, we were even in their living room and checking out what he was cooking for dinner, what ingredients and supplies they had in their pantry. They seemed to take it all in stride. We were also lucky enough to have Claude shared the views from his steeple in the sky.
At the time his wines were all the rave in Napa. Huge fruit, of course, but made with the elegance of Bordeaux and other French classics. He spared no money on hiring the top international wine consultants like David Abreu, a well-known viticulturist, was hired to develop the land, which Claude described as a “puzzle of microclimates and terroirs”.
Helen Turley made eight vintages for Blankiet Estate. Martha Levy-McClelland was the consulting winemaker for the 2006 to 2008 vintages, assisted by enologist Michel Rolland.
For the six following years Denis Malbec, the former cellar master at Chateau Latour, took the helm at Blankiet Estate as Director of Viticulture and Winemaking.
