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Hourglass™ is a single vineyard 100%
Cabernet Sauvignon bottling. The four acre hillside vineyard is located in the
St. Helena appellation of Napa Valley, just off of Lodi Lane. Neighbors include
Grace Family, Colgin, Vineyard 29, Duckhorn, Freemark Abbey and several other
well respected Cabernet producers. The hillside vineyard is located at the
narrowest section of Napa Valley in what is essentially the "pinch" of the
hourglass shaped Valley. The unique microclimate of the vineyard site, which
includes three different topographies (and three separate ripening zones),
combined with the extreme drainage of porous rocky soils, the unusual Cabernet
See clone and east facing sun exposure, yields a complex and deeply structured
Cabernet.
Bob Foley (Pride Mountain, Robert Foley, Switchback Ridge, School House,
etc.) is the winemaker. As one of the elite winemakers in Napa Valley, Bob has
worked his usual magic in making these wines. Hourglass™ elicits his style of
balanced tannic structure, deep fruit concentration and a long velvety finish.
The vineyard's terroir adds elements of eucalyptus, mint and licorice to balance
coffee/toffee elements of new French oak.
In the summer of 2001 with the first case ever sold, David Stevens and Karen
Williams, then the wine directors at Tra Vigne restaurant in St. Helena,
included Hourglass in a 1997 flight tasting during the week of the Napa Valley
Wine Auction. The flight included Screaming Eagle, Bryant Family and Harlan
Estate. Tasted by 25 collectors and wine trade professionals, Hourglass never
ranked lower than third in the flight! This tasting set in motion an avalanche
of interest in Hourglass, which has been growing steadily ever since.
That same year Wine Spectator featured Hourglass with a full-page story with
strong reviews. Robert Parker rated the 1998 Hourglass vintage as the second
highest scoring Cabernet of that year. In the sixth edition of Parker's Wine
Buyers Guide, he added Hourglass to his list of the top 41 California Cabernet
producers with a five star "Outstanding" rating. His top honor! In June 2003,
Hourglass was featured in the cover story of Wine Enthusiast, "The Contenders,
New Faces That Alter Napa Valley's Cult Wine Landscape." Later that year, Food
& Wine Magazine choose Hourglass to be featured as one of Napa Valley's "new
cult wines," at the prestigious Aspen Food & Wine Classic.
The '97 - '01 Hourglass vintages have received a series of wine publication
ratings in the 90s. Ratings are as follows:
| 1997 Vintage |
Wine Enthusiast |
95 |
| 1997 Vintage |
Robert Parker Jr. |
91 |
| 1998 Vintage |
Robert Parker Jr. |
94 |
| 1999 Vintage |
Robert Parker Jr. |
92+ |
| 1999 Vintage |
Wine Spectator |
92 |
| 2000 Vintage |
Wine Enthusiast |
95 |
| 2000 Vintage |
Steven Tanzer |
91 |
| 2001 Vintage |
Robert Parker Jr. |
93 |
| 2001 Vintage |
Steven Tanzer |
91 |
| 2001 Vintage |
Wine Enthusiast |
94 |
| 2001 Vintage |
Adams Beverage Group |
97 |  Click
here to download the Hourglass Backgrounder.
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