Blankiet Estate

Blankiet Estate is a California wine estate owned by Claude and Katherine Blankiet. Located in the foothills of the Mayacamas Mountains in the Napa Valley, the estate produces a portfolio of wines from their Paradise Hills Vineyard.

Blankiet Estate

History

The winery was created in 1996 on 46 acres ranging over several volcanic hills above the town of Yountville with the goal of producing wines of First Growth quality.^[1] In the 1990s, the best California wines became known as "Cult Wines" and a prominent winemaker making such wines was Helen Turley.^[2][3] She believed the Paradise Hills Vineyard had the potential to produce noteworthy wines and accepted the position as Blankiet Estate's winemaker.^[4] Wine critics Stephen Tanzer, Simon Woods and Robert M. Parker Jr validated her assessment. Tanzer listed Blankiet along with Harlan, Bond and Screaming Eagle as one of Napa’s most spectacular wines,^[5] "Simon Woods ranks California's cult Cabernets" listed Blankiet as a First Growth wine^[6] and Robert Parker stated in his Wine Buying Guide “The goal to produce world-class wines at Blankiet Estate has been accomplished, combining the extraordinary power of the site with unbelievable elegance and definition”.^[7] David Abreu, a well known viticulturist, was hired to develop the land, which Claude described as a “puzzle of microclimates and terroirs”.^[8] Volcanic soils were planted in Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, while the gravelly-clay alluvial soils were planted in Merlot. The winery connected to a deep underground network of caves, was designed by architect John Lail. The tasting room is located in the renaissance period castello that was built over the course of five years by a team of regional and international artisans.^[9][10] 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. Blankiet’s current winemaker is Bordelais Denis Malbec, the former cellar master at Chateau Latour.

In 2006 Blankiet became a forerunner in the fight against wine counterfeiting.^[11] The unspoken scourge of the wine world ballooned with China's increasing demand for wine.^[12] In order to provide their customers the ability to authenticate their wines, Blankiet teamed up with Prooftag,^[13] a French company that designed a unique Bubble tagTM security device. Microscopic bubbles are imbedded randomly in silver film strip applied to the neck of the bottles, providing a unique fingerprint to each bottle. This technology has since become the standard among Bordeaux and Burgundy First Growth producers.

Wine Production

Blankiet Estate produces annually a few hundred cases of flagship wines. They also produce about 1000 cases of “Prince of Hearts Red Wine” classified by Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate as a “Napa Valley Super-Second”.^[14] All varietals are grown, vinified and bottled at the estate.

References