Dana Estates 2017 Offering

Got moved to the active mailing list and received the offer today. Was quite surprised to see the bottles were offered individually (if only Colgin did that…). Anyone have any insight on these wines? Are they similar to Colgin at all? And what’s with the $175 per bottle of Sauvignon Blanc? Thanks! [cheers.gif]

What is Dana and why would they want that much for Sauvignon Blanc!

There seem to be more of these release dates popping up from places I’ve never heard of.

Dana sells the SB only from mailing list

I tried it once at a tasting it was very nice

Not saying it’s worth it but to the right person it
would be

Their Sauvignon blanc comes from a spot way up on Howell Mountain. Cool(er) climate up there produces a nice wine. Too expensive, but when I got to try it I thought it was pretty nice.

  • 2011 Dana Estates Sauvignon Blanc Hershey Vineyard - USA, California, Napa Valley, Howell Mountain (6/20/2014)
    A Visit to Dana Estates (Dana Estates): The fruit is from a vineyard site high atop Howell Mountain - roughly 1720 feet I believe. Dana Estates only has 2 acres of SB and doesn’t (yet) sell it commercially. The parcel of Sauvignon Blanc also has a WNW exposure so it would seem to be a somewhat cooler exposure compared to some of the parcels within the Hershey Vineyard. What really struck me was the acidity on the finish. Just razor sharp. Combined with the beautiful fruits I thought this had a lot going for it. More Domaine de Chevalier than Edmond Vatan.

Posted from CellarTracker

For what it’s worth the wines are very different from Colgin. Both are wonderful wines but they winemaker and terrior are stylistically very different. Within Dana it drills down further as the estate wines are very different from each other. I was there in ‘19 (gorgeous property) and wonderful wines. Cheers.

Re Sauvignon Blanc: I’ve had the 2015 and 2016 Sauvignon Blanc and they were clearly the best Sauvignon Blancs from Napa Valley I’ve ever had. It’s hard to find these bottles but they are worth the steep price. There are only three of Dana’s Sauvignon Blancs on Cellartracker which have been rated by a few people. 2012 has a 95.3 score, 2015 a 94.8 and 2016 a 94.7. Tellingly high scores.

Re the others: Hershey is the most terroir driven wine, intellectually appealing, classic and in my opinion, especially in hotter years the best Dana. Lotus is the most sexy and seductive wine. In hot vintages it is not a wine for Bordeaux lovers. In more classic vintages it’s outstanding. Helms is somewhere in between and you can forget about it.Probably Lotus is the most similar to Colgin although I find it more elegant.

Re entry level wines: Forget about the Onda. I find it too fat to be interesting. The Vaso is much better and a must buy in my opinion.

2017 isn’t the best vintage but they might have still done great things. I haven’t tried those yet. Galloni scored the Helms 96 points and has Lotus and Hershey in a 94-97 point range. 2018 will be much more interesting (as is 2016!).

Got the 2018 release save the date email today.

Anyone know how the 2018s shaped up for this property this year and what release prices typically are for Helms and Lotus?

[rofl.gif] [rofl.gif] [rofl.gif]

And each of those three scores is higher than the average CT score for every vintage of Vatan’s “Clos la Neore,” and every vintage of Dageneau’s “Silex” (except for the 1990, which has a single score in CT (98)). … yeah, they’re “telling,” all right … rolleyes

I have some Silex in my cellar but no Clos la Neore. Haven’t tried either of them yet. But will certainly do. Thanks for the tip with the Clos la Neore. You say they are better than the Dana SB? Have you tried the Dana?

2018 seems to be great year for Napa Valley. Slightly cooler than other vintages (which in my book is a plus). Galloni says a touch below 2013 and 2016 but better than 11/12/14/15/17. Not much scores out there yet: Lotus (96-98 Vinous, 99+ Parker), Helms (96 Vinous, 98+ Parker). No ratings for the Hershey or Sauvignon Blanc. As mentioned in my former post I would go for the Lotus and Hershy and forget about the Helms. And of course buy some Sauvignon Blanc and probably some Vaso (Vaso 2013 and 2016 are wonderful cellar defenders).

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Is the Vaso ~$90? Lots of great wine in that range.