Facets of Gemstone Estate 2005 Napa Valley

Gemstone

Intense aromas of crème de cassis, fresh stones and violet; the wine is pure and seamless.

Wine Advocate

The 2005 Facets is elegant, austere by the standards of California, and almost a dead-ringer for a Médoc from Bordeaux. The wine is dark ruby/purple-tinged with a floral, restrained nose of sweet cherries and soil and undertones of underbrush and barrique. The wine is medium-bodied, pretty, pure, and represents an attractive, French-styled blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Merlot, 17% Cabernet Franc, and the rest Petit Verdot. It should drink nicely for 10-12 years. Score: 90 - Robert Parker, December 2007.

Type	Red
Varietal	Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot
Vintage	2005
Bottle size	750mL
Alcohol content	14.6%
Appellation	California – Napa Valley - Yountville
Wine Advocate	90
Wine Enthusiast	--
Wine Spectator	--
Other	n/a

Philippe Melka, winemaker
Philippe spent much of his early life in Bordeaux, receiving his geology degree in 1989 from the University of Bordeaux. In his final year of study, he took a wine course purely out of sheer curiosity, and from that moment on realized his passion - and future - lay in the world of wine.   In 1991 he completed a masters program in Agronomy and Oenology under the direction of Professor Sequin, a noted specialist with regard to terroir. Philippe was fascinated by the relationship between soil and wine quality and his appreciation of the study of soil agronomy continues to this day in his work as a viticulturist as well as winemaker.  Philippe set out for the New World to discover its wines and expand his knowledge in the process. In 1991-1992, he worked for Dominus in both winemaking and vineyard management. He split 1992 between working harvest at Chittering Estate in Western Australia and returning to Dominus to study grape maturation and picking times.  In 1993, Philippe studied soils at Badia a Coltibuono in Italy as well as the Sangiovese varietal. In the spring of that year he was once again on French soil, joining the J. P. Moueix company in Libourne, where he stayed until returning to Napa Valley in 1994 to devote himself to winemaking, viticulture, and continuing soil studies.  Fifteen years later Philippe is one of the most sought after winemakers and viticulturalists in California. His extended family of wineries represents a diverse range of vineyard sites and soil types, from cool-climate, shallow, volcanic soils to deep, rich, warm micro-climate clay. Philippe's wines express the voice of the soil as much as that of the winemaker.