The story of Anakota begins deep in the heart of Knights Valley in rural Sonoma County. Located in an ancient volcanic zone, this relatively untouched and unknown place offers incredibly unique and diverse soils with a climate perfectly suited to Bordeaux varietals.
Sourced from estate-owned vineyards, Anakota is a collection of single vineyard, single varietal, wines that personify the rustic elegance and spirit of rural Sonoma County.
Rising more than 4,000 feet above sea level, Mount St. Helena looks down on our two prized estate-owned vineyards Helena Dakota and Helena Montana which are quietly situated on the rugged flanks of the Mayacamas Mountain Range.
Knights Valley is a remote winegrowing region bridging Sonoma and Napa Counties. It’s a place where time dilates. It’s an untamed landscape defined by rugged mountains, steep hillsides, placid meadows and abundant wildlife. Even though this AVA has produced some of the world’s greatest wines, it is still a mystery to most. Set along the flanks and foothills of Mount St. Helena and the Mayacamas Mountains, this rustic sanctuary possesses the sparse volcanic soils and cusp maritime climate needed to produce elegant, profound and age-worthy Cabernet Sauvignons.
HISTORY OF KNIGHTS VALLEY
In 1843, Knights Valley – or Mallacomes Valley as it was called back then – was a part of the 17,742-acre land grant to Jose de los Santos Berryessa. After taking possession of the property, Berryessa built an adobe lodge for his guests and used the land as a private hunting preserve. After the Mexican-American war, Thomas B. Knight, a Vermont immigrant and participant in the Bear Flag Revolt, bought 9,000 acres of Mallacomes Valley and added a second story to the lodge.
In 1858 and 1861, Calvin Holmes and his wife purchased a sizable portion of Knights Valley and erected a large Victorian house that still stands today. In 1875, real estate barons F.E. Kellogg and W.A. Stuart began developing a small resort town at the intersection of Ida Clayton Road and Highway 128. The town, which included a general store, school, homes and a hotel, burned down in the fires of 1964 and 1965.
Up until Prohibition, wine grapes were the largest agricultural crop in Knights Valley. From 1919 until the 1970s, the population declined, and the region regressed into a more bucolic state. In the mid-1970s, Knights Valley was rediscovered, and vineyards were planted by savvy winemakers looking for new sources of high-quality fruit. Today there are more than 30 growers and 2,000 acres of vines strewn throughout Knights Valley.
Back in the late 1990s, we began exploring new locations to grow Grand Cru-level Cabernet Sauvignon. Our goal was to find a site that could deliver the opulence and concentration of Napa coupled with the acidity, precision and age-worthiness of Sonoma. We found the perfect site in the Knights Valley AVA, a little-known wine region that earned AVA status in 1983. We named our ranch Anakota and in 1997 began surveying the terrain, analyzing the soils and planting vines.
Today, under the direction of Vigneron Pierre Seillan, we produce small quantities of single-vineyard Cabernet Sauvignons from our two hillside estate vineyards: Helena Dakota and Helena Montana.
Over his half-century of winemaking, Pierre has developed and refined his proprietary “micro-cru” farming/winemaking principles. Based on experience, observation, experimentation and intuition, this system considers that every vineyard is an intricate patchwork of soils, microclimates, exposures and elevations. Rather than treat each site as a single entity, Pierre divides each property into small blocks and sub-blocks. These vineyards-within-vineyards – often as small as one acre – are designed to mirror the subtle changes in the soils, terrain and microclimates. These micro-crus are farmed individually to ensure uniformly ripe grapes that bear the message of the soil. Each micro-cru is harvested and vinified separately. Two wines vinified from identical clones and rootstocks, but originating in radically different micro-crus, will produce radically different wines.
The 2019 Helena Montana is characteristically powerful & complex on the nose, showing ripe red and black cherry, along with dried herbs de Provence, and subtle hints of toasted clove, cinnamon, and nutmeg spices. The palate is loaded with structure and complexity, showing concentrated fruit and non-fruit flavors, framing a powerful core of firm tannin and juicy acidity. The finish is very long, and balanced.
Review:
Incredibly spicy and aromatic with pumice and cloves. Pops out of the glass. Cedar, too. Full-bodied with soft, polished tannins adding tension and creaminess. Long and beautiful. All about class and breeding. Try after 2025.
-James Suckling 99 Points
Anakota Wines Helena Dakota Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 100 percent Cabernet Sauvignon.
Helena Dakota is defined by its power, structure and sophistication. It is an intricate Cabernet Sauvignon that reflects both the terroir of the site and the influence of the surrounding Knights Valley AVA. It possesses layers of plums, anise, cassis, leather, bay leaf and cedar. Galvanized by a streak of minerals and bold tannins. Helena Dakota is a solidly-built wine that stands the test of time.
This sloping, 12-acre vineyard runs southwest to northeast at roughly 750 feet above sea level. It features soft, reddish brown, gravelly, silt loam soils speckled with rocks. Prevailing westerly winds blow over a large pond and continue uphill parallel to the rows of vines. These cooling breezes slow the ripening process creating wines that are both powerful and balanced with red fruit flavors, notable minerality and graceful tannins. Pierre says the Cabernet from Helena Dakota remind him of Pauillac or Saint-Estèphe.
Fragrant, opulent, and complex, bursting with fresh blueberry and black currant, Crème de Violette, and subtle fresh bay leaf aromatics. The palate is luxurious and rich, perfectly balancing this wine’s firm structure.
Review:
The 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Helena Dakota Vineyard explodes with violets, aniseed and cast iron, with a deep core of crushed blueberries and black cherries, evolving continually with each approach to the glass. The palate is stunning with its intensity and lift, pure fruits, pixelated tannins and focused acidity that drives the very long finish. Its exceptional balance and super pure flavors, plus that characteristic streak of iron that appears across the Anakota portfolio, really take the 2019 Helena Dakota to the next level.
-Wine Advocate 99 Points
Laurent-Perrier Grand Siecle No. 26 is a blend of 58% Chardonnay, 42% Pinot Noir
white gold in color with delicate and persistent bubbles, Grand Siecle No. 26 offers a very complex nose which mixes honeysuckle, lemon, clementine and fresh butter aromas, followed by notes of hazelnut and a touch of honey. The feel in the mouth is very delicate and fresh with candied lemon and fresh hazelnut aromas. The palate is silky and mineral with notes of honeysuckle, flaked almonds and clementine.
It pairs with high quality produce and refined dishes, including shellfish, noble fish and white meats such as Thai style langoustine tartare and fine roasted poultry.
Vintage in Champagne is usually synonymous with excellence for Prestige Cuvées. Contrarily, Laurent‑Perrier believes that only the art of assemblage can offer what nature can never provide, that is, the perfect year.
The expression of the perfect year is that of a great champagne wine that has long ageing potential and over time develops depth, intensity and aromatic complexity yet retains its freshness and vibrancy.
Since 1959, Grand Siècle has been revealed only 26 times in bottle format and 23 times in magnum.
The « Grand Siècle » (Great Century) is the name given to one of the most prosperous periods (17th century) in the history of France known for the capacity of man, through his works, to create what nature cannot. Louis XIVth, known as the « Sun King », by creating the « Château de Versailles » and its gardens, was the architect of this model of harmony, balance and perfection.
The symmetry and perspective of the « Jardins à la française », the capacity to grow Mediterranean fruits (especially Oranges inside the « Orangerie ») in such a Northern climate, creating the Grand Canal, the fountains and ponds with no nearby rivers are many illustrations of this ability of man to sublimate natural elements. The name of Grand Siècle was chosen for Laurent‑Perrier’s Prestige Cuvée based on this common vision to reach a perfection that Nature, on its own, cannot provide.
Review:
This is really something. Electric on the palate. The aromas are so complex with sliced fresh and dried ginger, subtle pie crust, tarte tatin and hints of nutmeg with some salted caramel. Toasted bread, too. Always subtle. The palate is full- to medium-bodied yet hemmed-in with a freshness and balance that draws you back. Savory and vibrant. It's full of energy. Spectacular. Fascinating. Symphonic blend of 2012, 2008 and 2007. 65% of the 2012, 25% of the 2008 and 10% of the 2007. Eight grand cru. Chardonnay 58% and 42% pinot noir. Disgorged February 2023. 10 years on the lees. 7g/L dosage.
-James Suckling 100 Points
Bastgen Blauschiefer Riesling is 100 percent Riesling.
Bright, clean, fresh and zesty. Grapefruit like flavors. Fruity aromas and a nice minerality, typical of the Riesling grape grown on blue slate soil. Round, rich and a very long finish.
They meticulously tend 4.5 ha (11.11 acres) of which 80% is Riesling. The soil is made of slate. Their vineyards are located in Kesten and Brauneberg, on a steep terrace, and planted to 50-year old vines. Fortunately for Bastgen, they own part of the famous Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenuhr. The vines produce very small, ripe berries that are very tasty.
Review:
"Very enticing nose of ripe pear with some white peach and floral aromas! All the elegance and delicacy we expect from high-quality Mosel riesling, but this light-bodied and dry beauty is only an entry-level wine! Long, refreshing and delicate finish. This will be a bargain in all the markets it reaches. From organically grown grapes. Drink now. Screw cap. "
- James Sucking (November 2023), 92 pts