1 bottles of each: 2003 Arietta ‘Variation One’ – 2003 Arietta ‘H Block Hudson Vineyards’ – 2003 Arietta Cabernet Sauvignon

Bought on release and stored in a temperature-controlled cellar.

Available from their mailing list only.

About Arietta: Arietta is an ultra-premium Napa winery specializing in limited production Bordeaux-style blends. Fritz Hatton and his wife Caren founded Arietta in 1996 in partnership with winemaker John Kongsgaard and his wife Maggy. The partnership was born of a shared passion for fine wine and classical music. The vinous inspiration for Arietta was an extraordinary 2.3 acre block of Cabernet Franc on the Hudson Ranch in Napa/Carneros.

Descriptions of the wines:

2003 Arietta H Block Hudson VineyardsâA?¨: A 60/40 blend of cabernet franc and merlot. Ruby-red. Cool but ripe aromas of blackberry, blueberry, cassis and licorice. Wonderfully thick and dense but with superb life in the mouth. Compelling flavors of black fruits, with inner-palate floral lift. This is even lusher than the 2002. John Kongsgaard has figured out how to do something that too few California winemakers can do: make extraordinarily rich, layered wines that maintain vibrancy. A great showing today.

2003 Arietta Variation OneâA?¨: A 60/40 blend of merlot and syrah, co-fermented. Good saturated ruby-red. Nose offers a compelling combination of syrah and merlot perfume: black raspberry, minerals, licorice, flowers. Dense and thick, but with terrific flavor definition and lift and captivating notes of flowers and graphite. A powerfully structured wine that finishes with explosive fruits and minerals and great persistence. Incidentally, this syrah comes from a different block of the Hudson Vineyard than the syrah that goes into Kongsgaard's own syrah bottling. This is a hotter site that produces more full-blown wine, Kongsgaard explains. One of those rare 1+1=3 wines, where the whole is more than the sum of the parts. Obviously, the blend works.

2003 Arietta Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley: âA?¨Includes 15% merlot and 5% cabernet franc. Good bright ruby. Knockout nose combines black cherry, blackberry, licorice and bitter chocolate. Wonderfully sweet and concentrated, with snappy fruit flavors and perfectly integrated acidity. Can't quite match the complexity of the H Block blend, but this boasts terrific fruit and underlying sweetness. Finishes with broad, dusty tannins. Mostly from the Thorvilos Vineyard, on the lower reaches of Howell Mountain. Will make a worthy new entry to the Arietta line-up.