Cabernet – Page 2

‘BOUND & DETERMINED’ TO DELIVER CAB VALUE

As we have mentioned many times, finding good, well-priced Cabernet Sauvignon, particularly from Napa, is a priority. It’s good business. Cabernet is still king for most wine drinkers and we are well aware of that fact. This latest find came from a winery called “Roots Run Deep” which makes a number of wines We had never seen this one before, a well priced Napa Cab with kind of a funny name, ‘Bound and Determined’, from a vintage that has proven to be somewhat erratic among Napa Cabs, 2017. You may know ‘Roots Run Deep’ from their bottlings that have a label that looks like a chalkboard in an engineer’s office covered with ‘equations’ and is called called “Educated Guess.”

We knew those labels as proper, value-driven bottlings that are competent, but not necessarily thrilling, and the consummate 87-88 scorers. Given those visuals, we didn’t have any preconceived notions or expectations about Bound and Determined. But, as we so often say, that’s why we taste. That’s how you find things and find something we did. Given our experience with the vintage, we were keenly aware to look for hard tannins to poke out from underneath the fruit. There weren’t any, which immediately put this Cabernet in the upper echelon of what we tasted for the vintage.

There was also a deep, sturdy, very attractive core of blackberry and plum with notes of pepper, toast, and cinnamon. The flavors were pure and showed considerable breeding. It had some chew to the finish, but not at all in a bad way. It was more like an honest throwback to another era when Cabernets were less overblown yet it is still bursting with fruit. It delivered everything one could expect from a Napa Cabernet and did so for under $30. That is something worth paying attention to.

The juice for Bound & Determined Cabernet Sauvignon 2017 came from some serious sites in Oakville and Rutherford (which of course we can’t mention), and the ‘breeding’ is clear in the wine’s depth of flavor and healthy, saturated color. We can’t point to massive reviews as the winery doesn’t get a lot of media coverage. We did find a few words from James Suckling however on this and what we presume was the inaugural 2016, “A generous, medium-to-full-bodied red with aromas and flavors of grilled black plums, burnt orange, black peppercorn, praline and toffee. Firm, chewy tannins. Flavorful. Drink or hold…90 points.”

We actually think that 90 point score is a little low but we understand moderately priced ‘unknowns’ aren’t likely to pull down big reviews from the press, even of they are from Napa. We’re more on about price performance, however, and this one excels in that arena. A definite diamond in the rough, this tasty Napa Cab for under $30 is definitely newsworthy.

VALUE CABERNET FROM AN OLD AMIGO

One might question devoting time to a lengthy piece about a wine in this price range. But some of the story is very important by way of differentiation. There are a lot of wines in this kind of price range that are trying to get your attention, but many are concocted labels that, bluntly, aren’t very good. It matters that we have sold Benegas wines in the past, dating back 10-15 years, and we have a history with them.

They have a history as well. Tiburcio Benegas founded Trapiche winery in Mendoza in 1883 and it was sold to the Pulenta family in 1971. Frederico Benegas Lynch lived at the Trapiche winery until it was sold, then in 1999 bought the Fincas Libertad winery which was one of the family’s former properties and Benegas winery was founded.

The key point is that this is a producer with a long history, not some made up ‘brand’, and they make surprisingly soulful wines at a number of price levels. That’s what we recalled about them from our previous experiences at the old location, and that is still true today. Simply, we can’t do this in California for this kind of price because we don’t have the terroir, mature vineyards or appropriate economics to do so. We’ve made that point before so we’ll leave it at that. You can get surprising good Cab outside the U.S. for not a lot of coin if you take the time to look and are willing to ‘kiss a lot of frogs’. We do that for you.

The Benegas Cabernet Sauvignon Mendoza Luna 2019 is 100% Cabernet from Finca Libertad situated at 2800 feet elevation and harvested at lass than four tones an acre, less than a lot of Napa producers who sell their wines for a lot more. This Cab sees four months in barrels to round it out. A great option for under $15, we’re glad to have Benegas back around as we hadn’t seen them in some time. Black fruit, round tannins, surprising substance and a unique chocolate/earth that is particular to a number if the Benegas reds, what’s not to like? There’s surprising character here for a mere $12.

It got nice notes from James Suckling as well, “Pretty, vivid Cabernet Sauvignon with dark currant, fresh tobacco and hints of cedar on both the nose and palate. Medium body, lightly fine tannins and a delicious finish. ..92 points.”

A PRINCELY NAPA CAB DEAL

Sometimes it’s good to mix things up a little bit. But we want to tell you up front and make it perfectly clear that this is a Jeb Dunnuck review for the last vintage of this wine, the 2018:

“The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon comes all from Napa Valley and is 100% Cabernet aged 20 months in 60% new French oak. It tastes as though it costs three times the price and has a rocking nose of blackcurrants, chocolate, tobacco leaf, and cedar pencil, with a touch of rocky minerality and graphite showing with time in the glass. Not your simple, value-priced fruit bomb, it has considerable depth of fruit, building tannins, and a great finish…. Hats off to winemaker Maayan Koschitzky for over-delivering on all these wines from Royal Prince…93 points.”

Now we never tasted that wine nor, for a variety of reasons, previously ever heard of Royal Prince wines. We can’t spring a review on the 2019 because it just came on the market. We looked up the label on Wine Advocate, Wine Spectator, James Suckling, and Vinous in search of any past reviews and, apparently, they hadn’t seen it either. That’s fine. It is clearly one of the better kept secrets in California Cabernet, and that can be an advantage. We can tell you that 2019 is considered an exceptional vintage in Napa and time will tell if it may be even a little better than 2018, which is great.

The ‘mind behind’ the project is one David Green, someone we have crossed paths with before with a marketing resume that includes some familiar names like Cliff Lede, Dana Estates and Joel Gott. He’s been around a while (over three decades) and has lots of contacts in the wine trade. We’re a little curious about the context of the name but most important is that this is meant to be a high-performance ‘value brand’. If you interpret that to mean a $45 Napa Cabernet that can be on the table with $80-90 Napa Cabs, you’ve got the picture.

Of course, while sourcing fruit is a significant task, someone needs to make magic in the cellar. That’s where Mayaan Koschitzky comes in. A former paratrooper and judo black belt, Mayaan made wines in Israel for a half decade before coming to America. He couldn’t have started with more impressive gigs than with Screaming Eagle and Dalle Valle in 2011, and then was tapped to work as an assistant with Philippe Melka in his consulting firm in 2014 and, two years later became director of winemaking. One piece we read said he is now Melka’s Partner. Clearly the guy has serious chops and more than a good idea of what great wine is supposed to taste like.

That brings us to Royal Prince Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 2019, or what we might refer to as the ‘NDA cuvee’. The list of iconic vineyards in this blend is (which we can’t publish) pretty eye-opening, but what Mayaan did with it is the real news. To use their words, “A plush, opulent, densely textured, full-bodied wine that shows loads of black raspberry fruits, violets, shaved cocoa with polished, sweet tannins. The 2019 Royal Prince Cab is dark and almost opaque in color. It shows aromas of truffle, black cherry, and licorice. The 2019 takes over where its predecessor left off – a massive over-achiever. The NDA on the sources for this wine is long and littered with iconic names. At once powerful and richly textured, it also shows flashy acidity and great persistence in the finish.” It is all of that in fact.

But the feeling we got from the wine was almost haunting. It wasn’t ‘big’ per se by Napa standards. There was a broad swath of very engaging, spiced, cocoa-laced blueberry fruit that effortlessly rolled down the middle of the palate, nicely rounded edges, and a feeling of polished glycerin that screamed pure Cabernet fruit. More unsettling was its resemblance to an elite Bordeaux texturally, rich yet elegant and never ponderous, silky from beginning to end. Some of the flavor profiles gave us hints of very specific, elite Bordeaux like Ducru Beaucaillou and Palmer. Somehow this was Napa Cab with a higher calling and very distinct from the rest of a very good lineup of Napa juice that was on the table that day.

There are bigger Cabs out there, but this one has sufficient size and a charisma all its own. All that and its only $45? That’s a ‘wow’. Like Jeb said about the 2018, “Hats off to winemaker Maayan Koschitzky for over-delivering (again) on all these wines from Royal Prince.” For us this is a ‘ground floor’ kind of opportunity on a yet-to-be discovered gem.

A NEW ‘OLD FRIEND’ IN NAPA

One thing we have been repeatedly reminded of over the years is that things can change. The most recent demonstration occurred recently with a Napa Valley winery called Amici. This was a winery that we had tasted on few occasions over the years and came to the conclusion that the label was largely forgettable. Yet across a board the in Amici lineup we were presented recently, virtually every offering impressed. So did the prices.

Amici started back in 1991 as a project among friends (amici is ‘friends’ in Italian). Clearly things have changed quite a bit since our earlier encounters. Starting as a virtual winery (a label that owned no vineyards or building as so many are these days), over time owner John Harris has forged long standing relationships with some serious fruit sources. They now make a number of single vineyard wines from some very recognizable vineyard sources and we have to presume that at some so of that juice trickles down into this Amici Cabernet Napa Valley 2018.

The current winemaking team of Anthony Biagi and Jesse Fox likely had a lot to do with the current high level of performance here. Biagi has an impressive resume including Cade, Hourglass, Odette, Plumpjack and Senegal, and joined Amici/Olema in 2015. Fox started at the French Laundry as a Cordon-Bleu trained chef but the wine bug bit him hard. He did some winemaking work internationally then spent a decade with Harlan, The Napa Valley Reserve and Ram’s Gate. He came to Amici/Olema in 2016 and teams with Biagi on both the Amici and their value oriented Olena projects. Certainly, the jump in quality we see here has a bit to do with them.

A blend of 91% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Merlot, 3% Petit Verdot and 2% Cabernet Franc that sees 18 months in 75% new French oak, there the promise of some pretty serious fruit in this wine. There is also a serious lineup of reviews which are all made more significant by this wine’s very modest tab (by Napa Standards). We’ll get to that in a minute.

It all started with a barrel review from Jeb Dunnuck, “…this is a vintage loved by winemaker Tony Biagi…Starting with the 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley, it could end up being one of the values of the year if it shows this well from bottle, displaying classic cassis, tobacco, and crushed rock-like minerality. With medium to full-bodied richness and depth, ripe, polished tannins, and great purity of fruit, it’s tastes like it cost three times the price…93-95.”

Given the other reviews, it apparently did get into the bottle in fine shape, as the across the board kudos would attest (James Suckling 93, Vinous 92, Wine Advocate 92). From Suckling, “A cooler style of Napa cab with blackcurrants, hot stones and violets that follow through to a full-bodied palate with creamy, polished tannins that integrate nicely on the palate and provide a delicious combination of fruit and character…”

From Wine Advocate, ““The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley is a blend of 91% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Merlot, 3% Petit Verdot and 2% Cabernet Franc. Deep garnet-purple in color. It opens with expressive notes of warm cassis, black cherries, blackberries and fragrant earth with hints of bay leaves and black truffles. Medium to full-bodied, it delivers mouth-coating cassis flavors with compelling herbal sparks, framed by a lively backbone and wonderfully velvety tannins, finishing long.”

From Vinous Media, “The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa Valley) is fabulous. Rich, plummy and forward, the Amici Napa Valley Cabernet makes a terrific introduction to the vintage. Even better, it is incredibly fairly priced. Succulent dark cherry, plum, mocha, spice and licorice are kicked up in this fleshy, open-knit Cabernet Sauvignon.”

Given all of that, one would not expect to pay less than $50, yet that is the reality. The Amici Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 2018 is one of the true sleeper Cabernet deals from this part of the world.

THE LATEST STYLISH CAB FROM THREAD FEATHER

Thread Feather continues to a people’s choice. Clearly this label resulted from the rivers of unsold juice at some of the elite addresses in the Napa. Throw in a pandemic and things would have gone on for a long time, but the fires in Napa in 2020 will definitely have an effect moving forward. Clearly, we have learned that ‘the bird is the word’. We have made the point long ago that California vintners, particularly in Napa, have continued to raise prices and pretend that everything is just rosy. If that were the case, a label like this wouldn’t exist. For us it has been a fantastic source of intriguing, very polished Cabernets that taste like they had much higher price aspirations.

Given the current state of affairs, owner/winemaker Niel Koch has dialed himself in to get some remarkable juice. His company called Flight Wine Company has developed an impressive program of ‘one-offs’. He specializes in small lots of 100-500 cases of what he calls ‘sub AVA’ wines. Everything we have seen thus far has been a ‘district’ bottling, as is today’s menu item, the Thread Feather Cabernet Sauvignon Mount Veeder 2018. Koch clearly knows what great wine is supposed to taste like. He learned from the best having trained under Philip Melka at Seavey Vineyards, Bryant Family and Vineyard 29, as well as a stint as Assistant Winemaker at Lewis Cellars.

The Thread Feather Cabernet Sauvignon Mount Veeder 2017 comes from a single vineyard (they can’t tell us which one) situated at 1000 feet above sea level on the eastern slopes of Mount Veeder on the western side of the Napa Valley just south of Oakville. The grapes, 91% Cabernet and 9% Merlot, were handpicked, sorted and then optically sorted. After a 3-day cold soak, and 14 day fermentation with extended skin contact the wine was moved into 100% French oak, 30% new. As has been the practice, production is limited and the original retail in this case stood at $65.

As with the other Thread Feather wines we have offered, this Cabernet speaks of its origins. The flavors start with urgent cassis and plum fruit laced with Veeder’s telltale insistent baking spice character. There are ticks of graphite, tobacco, and earth, but the spice wins the day as it so often does in this part of the Valley.

This is mountain fruit, so it sits a little firmer out of the gate. A little air time makes a big difference. But the tannins are ripe and supple. This is a 2017 as well, so there is more structure and a little more reserved personality. It’ll take a touch more coaxing but you will be rewarded. It impressed the buyers more on the second day as the air had really allowed this one to expand.

There’s a lot to like here, particularly for the price. We aren’t talking the previously mentioned fare either as we are offering this ‘reserve level’ effort for a modest $34.98. It’s another winner from Thread Feather as well as a great buy on serious Napa Cabernet.

FALL, FIRE, and IMPRESSSIVE 2018 NICKEL & NICKEL

Tis the season for Cabernet. As an overview, we have to look at the current plight of the Napa Valley. We haven’t hidden our distaste for the high-handed marketing and undermining of the retail trade for the last three decades or so. But the current ‘rock and a hard place’ that the region in general is facing is historically significant. You have the pandemic that wiped out most of the restaurant business as current ‘on-sale’ customers have been operating at diminished capacity or have been closed. Then you have the current wildfires, right during harvest, that threaten to greatly diminish, and in many cases wipe out the 2020 harvest. Who knows what kind of ‘marketing’ decisions Napa vintners will be made regarding the ‘current birds in hand,’ the generally very good 2017, 2018, and 2019 vintages moving forward.

The 2017s have been solid, though not on par with 2014 and 2016. There have been a few cases where edgy tannins have gotten in the way. Thus far the 2018s reflect well on the vintage as the wines have been plush, engaging and packed with fruit. The quantities for the 2018 harvest were also good. We’re hearing great things about 2019 as well. With the general business climate less than ideal, and great, fairly abundant vintages in the pipeline, it promised to be wild times for both consumers and us. But the fires may, and likely will change the dynamic. We’ll see.

Meanwhile, let’s look at that crowd-pleasing, well endowed 2018 Cabernets. Anybody who got a hold of the luscious Thread Feather Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville 2018 knows exactly what we mean, and the coming Chappellet Cabernet Signature 2018 was one of the most compelling examples we have had in that series. Today we’re going to give you a little heads up on the best lineup we can recall tasting from Nickel & Nickel.

Some of the vineyards in this current single-vineyard focused lineup may be unfamiliar as there have been changes in sourcing through the years. But as a group, they were pretty flashy. As usual we pick a few favorites out of the gate, but we reserve the right to expand our offerings and work up an email down the road. In the meantime, these were our favorites in a really good lineup…

Nickel & Nickel Cabernet Sauvignon John C. Sullenger Vineyard Oakville 2018 ($89.98)-The home vineyard of Nickel & Nickel, Sullenger Vineyard is situated behind the winery in the heart of Oakville and is named for John C. Sullenger, who settled the farmstead in the 1880’s. The vineyard’s 30 acres of clay loam soil are planted exclusively to Cabernet Sauvignon, with 2 rootstocks and a few different clones which each add a unique element to the resulting wine. This is one of the bottlings that has made the selection virtually every vintage. Bigger middle than most, with the classic black fruit of Oakville and cool earth and spice notes, this isn’t necessarily the ‘biggest’ Sullinger we have had, but it is one of the prettiest out of the gate we can recall. The fact that it didn’t dominate the tasting this time is more of a statement about the lineup than suggestive of any shortfalls in this bottling.

Nickel & Nickel Cabernet Sauvignon State Ranch Vineyard Yountville 2018 ($89.98)– State Ranch is located northeast of the town of Yountville. The 23-acre vineyard is divided into two parcels by State Lane Road and consists of both older and younger vines. Many excellent wines are produced from this area, in part due to the rocky, loam soil which has excellent drainage throughout the year. The vines, as well as the clusters, are moderate in size and the vineyard gets full sun throughout the day. As the young vines mature, we will be harvesting many different clones to make the final wine. Nickel & Nickel selects fruit from 14.5 acres of the vineyard. Also known as State Lane Vineyard, this is the same site used by Kapcsandy and others for their compelling 100-point wines.

Nickel & Nickel Cabernet Sauvignon DeCarle Vineyard Rutherford 2018 ($89.98)–DeCarle Vineyard is a newcomer to the lineup and planted on the west side of Rutherford, in the dusty soils for which the area is known. This Cabernet Sauvignon offers a silky palate that complements the wine’s juicy berry and black cherry flavors and finishes with a subtle minerality. This was earlier in the tasting lineup but impressed with its display of bright, slippery red fruits and light on its feet demeanor. A very pretty Cab with a more Bordeaux demeanor by comparison to the others.

Nickel and Nickel Cabernet Sauvignon Quarry Vineyard Rutherford 2018 ($89.98)–Quarry is one of the longer term team members. The 25-acre Quarry Vineyard climbs the slopes above the Silverado Trail on the east side of Rutherford. The name comes from the old quarry that was the source of a white rock used in the ghost winery that still stands beside the vineyard. Three distinct hillside blocks, each experiencing its own unique soil and exposure, are harvested from this vineyard. The white, rocky loam soils are well drained, and the vines are of moderate vigor. Cluster and berry size varies from block to block, but all are small to moderate. This vineyard has full exposure to the afternoon sun. Polished and pedigreed, expressive and integrated, this is a complete but, again, not necessarily ‘big’ Cab.

Nickel and Nickel Cabernet Sauvignon Bear Track Vineyard Napa Valley 2018 ($89.98)– The Bear Track Vineyard showed well on a couple of occasions, and is perhaps the most impressive of the newcomers in that it has the requisite size to please most Cabernet drinkers. The vineyard is planted in three terraced blocks on the eastern hillsides of Napa Valley, just outside of the Howell Mountain AVA. The cool climate and iron-rich, volcanic ash soils result in small, tight clusters of concentrated fruit. Ample hang time before harvest yields a Cabernet Sauvignon with intense, dark fruit flavors and integrated tannins. This one is a bit broader on the palate, and respectably ‘Howelly’ (showing subtle mineral/gravel notes) but not overly so. Lots of black fruits make an impression here.

NEW LABEL FROM A FAMILIAR FACE IN NAPA

It’s hard for us to explain the name of the winery as it is clearly something that is an inside reference. So, in the winery’s own words, “The name Mending Wall comes from the Robert Frost poem about two neighbors who meet once a year to restore the boundary that separates them, the boundary that brings them together. Our winemaking philosophy follows a similar path. Mending Wall is about coming together to explore and question the established boundaries in winemaking. Here, we’re free to experiment and play. No longer constrained by space, time or rules about what should and what should not go into a bottle.”

As to the nuts and bolts of it, this is a project/partnership between three families. The first couple you may not know even if you are a hard-core Napa fans. First is Frank Dotzler, owner of True Vineyard who later acquired Outpost Winery. Then there’s Mark Pulido and Donna Walker, who own three vineyards and produced their own Cabernet called Pulido-Walker from their Mount Veeder estate.

The third part of this story needs little introduction. He is pretty much known far and wide in the Napa by his initials alone, TRB. Thomas Rivers Brown has a hand in all the labels mentioned here and is a partner in this label. If you are one of the few who have not heard of ‘TRB’, he is the winemaker of record for a number of high profile producers on his extensive client list like Schrader, Revana, Seaver, Hestan, Aston, Round Pond, Gemstone, and Maybach, as well as his own wine, Rivers-Marie. He has accumulated a number of 100 point scores over the course of his winemaking and was Food and Wine Winemaker of the Year in 2010. Many think of him as the ‘Top Gun’ among Napa winemakers.

Simply put, you’ve got a group of passionate people, great dirt, and about as good a winemaking talent as you could hope for to put it all together. The results should be pretty predictable, and in this case they are. We don’t need to spend a lot of time talking about the current ‘marketplace’ and how pandemics and economic uncertainty make selling premium wine a bit trickier than it used to be Nor shall we introduce discussions about how this pandemic should change the nature wine distribution forever (one can only hope). Let’s just take the opportunity to enjoy labels of this caliber at, shall we say, less than standard prices. These are serious efforts.

The Mending Wall Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 2014 (‘list’ $85) is only the second Cab from this who’s-who project and not a lot of folks talked about it. Also note that both of the reviews we did find were from 2016. We’ll take Robert Parker’s ‘90+’ score from four years ago with a grain of salt, and suggest that time in the bottle has pushed this one well into the ‘plus’ territory. His descriptors, however, are accurate with the exception of the ‘closed personality’. These days, there is plenty to see here.

The review, “As for the 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon, it is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon aged 20 months in 80% new French oak. It is a moderately sized cuvée of 774 cases. It is still showing some tannin and a slightly closed personality, but the wine has an impressively saturated ruby/purple color, and a burgeoning nose of blackcurrants, cedar wood, licorice and loamy soil undertones. The abundant fruit continues on the attack and midpalate, with the wine medium to full-bodied and somewhat structured. Give it another year or so of bottle age and drink it over the following 15-20.” This showy Cab, while still structured, has ripe tannins and layers of dark, complex chocolaty fruit.

We’re more on board with Galloni’s take and have the temerity to suggest that, if tasted now, both reviewers’ scores would be elevated. From Galloni, “The 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon is a big step up from the 2013. Boisterous, rich and ample, the 2014 exudes raciness from start to finish. Dark red and purplish stone fruits, mocha, spice, chocolate and new French oak give the wine its luscious, exotic personality. The 2014 is a striking wine from Mending Wall…93 points.”

The Mending Wall Petite Sirah Palisades Vineyard Napa Valley 2016 (‘list’ $55) is perhaps even more distinctive because one doesn’t find Petite Sirah performing at this level very often. But Palisades, a mile north of Calistoga, is no ordinary vineyard. A vineyard since the late 1800s, much of it replanted with original bud wood grafted onto St. George rootstock in the 70’s, it is possessed of serious fruit and the source of designations by Carlisle, Tor and Biale. It’s a historic look back into Napa history to a time when Petite Sirah was king, yet here had not only power but a certain refinement.

Antonio Galloni gave the wine an original score of 93-95 in June, 2018, then came back with a solid 95 in December with a cautionary review as follows, “The 2016 Petite Sirah Palisades Vineyard is going to need a number of years before it starts to drink well. Inky, plush and concentrated to the core, the Palisades has a lot to offer. But it is also a wine for readers who can be patient and who love Petite…” Yes it is dark as night and big, with plenty of black fruit flecked with pepper and woodsy notes, ample but refined tannins, and loads of character. But nearly two years later, we didn’t find it near as foreboding as he did. It’s a rare bird varietally and an outstanding effort. Only 193 cases produced.

Take advantage of our special pricing on these special finds at checkout.

‘IMMORTAL’ CABERNET

They did it to themselves. If you call yourself ‘Immortal Cabernet,’ you had best be ready for some raised eyebrows and tough judgements. With a name like that, you have to bring you’re ‘A game’ every time and make an impression. Anything less than great simply will not due. Well there is definitely intent behind every aspect of this wine because even making great wine doesn’t guarantee success.

The story starts with a unique piece of land on the western side of the Mayacamas Mountains that is actually in Sonoma right on the border with Napa. The depth, authority, luxurious palate and exceptional complexity of the wines from here rival anything produced on the Napa side. The only differences are a county line and the inability of the previous owner to get peoples attention even though he made spectacular juice.

We discovered Hidden Ridge, the former name of this spectacular vineyard planted on a 55-degree slope, some years ago. Everything seemed to be perfectly in place for these folks to become the next big thing. The 50-acre vineyard, on a terraced hillside, was planted by respected Napa winemaker Marco Digiulio, Timothy Milos (who has a fine resume of his own and is the current winemaker), and former owner Mark Hofacket in 2004. The sunlight, wind currents, exposure, etc. are a unique combination that seem to guarantee spectacular fruit in this plot planted to over 92% Cabernet. We heard the story, tasted the wine (maybe an ’08?), and were suitably impressed.

The winery’s stock should have gone up as time passed and it continued to garner huge press from Robert Parker including a couple of 97s and a vaunted ‘100’ on the Hidden Ridge Cabernet Impassable Mountain 2013. Yet as a piece we discovered in Forbes written by a style and fashion writer, “Yet despite such critical accolades and high remarks, the vineyard and its compelling wines went largely unrecognized. The problem wasn’t the wine, but rather the branding or lack thereof.”

Sadly the original owner passed in 2016 and the property was taken over by one Tim Martin, who spent a decade with Robin Lail at Lail and founded his own targeted ‘branding’ consultancy. The whole immortal things didn’t come about because Martin watched too many superhero or Samurai movies, but rather made reference to the immortal jellyfish.

From the same Forbes article by Stephan Rabimov, “As the only immortal being on the planet, the jellyfish is able to reset itself and transform back into an adolescent state to essentially start over. With this in mind, Martin made the mysterious creature the focal point of the vineyard’s new branding. ‘Like the immortal jellyfish on our labels, we want clients’ memories with Immortal Estate wines to live forever.”

That’s a little out there from our perspective but, hey, it’s addressing that whole ‘if a tree falls in the forest..’ thing. Meanwhile ‘branding’ doesn’t mean much if you don’t have the goods, and the Immortal Cabernet Slope 2014 is pretty sensational juice. Broad, deep, extracted but refined, lavishly textured, it is loaded with cassis, black cherry, baking spice, chocolate, and absolutely captivating.

The following barrel notes from Robert Parker posted March, 2016, tell the same story: ”As for the 2014s, the 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Slope from the Hidden Ridge vineyard does not suffer in comparison with the extraordinary efforts of 2013. Still a barrel sample, its riveting richness, concentration, texture and density represent another legend in the making. Crème de cassis, licorice, blackberry, earthiness and spice are all present in this magnificent example of Cabernet Sauvignon that should age beautifully for 25-30+ years. When I first started doing my centralized tastings of the many wineries that I could not possibly have time to visit, one of the remarkable standouts for Cabernet Sauvignon was Hidden Ridge. These are clearly world-class Cabernet Sauvignons and should be considered by any serious collector for their cellars… 95-97+.”

For our part we are happy to get involved with this vineyard again, and definitely see that the juice has gotten even better over the years. And, in true Winex fashion, we’ve come up with a special price at checkout to soften the perfectly justifiable $75 price, one that would be 2-3 times higher had it come from the Napa side of the line.

A ‘RESOLUTION’ TO THE VALUE CABERNET ISSUE

The search for value Cabernet, specifically from Napa, is never-ending. But thankfully it is not hopeless, though we do have to work through a lot of juice to find a precious few gems. A while back (specifically January 2018) we introduced a new find (for us) that answered the prayers of California Cabernet drinkers. It was clean, varietally true, showed the nuances of its Napa Valley heritage, and cost under $20. A late Christmas miracle? Apparently not as here we are with the latest edition of the Branham Estate Resolution Cabernet Napa Valley that hits the mark again.

Winex has been scouring the countryside for remarkable values for nearly four decades. We have to wonder why we haven’t run across the wines of Gary Branham before. The guy has been in the wine business, by his own account, since 1971, and started the first of his two estates by planting Branham Rockpile Vineyard in 1994. In 1997, Branham purchased Obsidian Vineyard in Napa Valley, located near the Napa River near the Silverado Trail and Bale Lane. This 10-acre estate was planted in 1986 and then 60% was replanted in 2005.

Gary has basically existed as a grower for most of the time but has made numerous small lots of a variety of different things under his own labels, Branham and Resolution, all of which seemed to be priced at very reasonable fares given their pedigrees. Apparently, while Gary makes the majority of his livelihood as a grower, he likes to make wines that express their vineyards and that people can afford to drink. What a concept!

We couldn’t have been more elated when we were presented this Cabernet. In the value game, there are far too many one-hit wonders. This version was every bit as good as the last one, and that’s a big compliment. The Branham Estate Resolution Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 2017 comes mainly from Gary’s Obsidian Vineyard with a portion from each of two other vineyards he works, one in Calistoga and one in St. Helena. There are bits of Merlot and Petit Verdot in the mix as well. This is all Napa Valley juice that sees 16 months in 100% used French oak to polish and soften the mid-palate and make something tender and delicious for current applications’ A year or two more in the bottle certainly won’t hurt either.

‘The Res’, as the winery refers to it, is full-bodied, rich, and balanced with aromas of dark berries, cassis, mocha and spice on the nose. You get the same profile on the palate with a touch of coffee in the mix as well. For Cab drinkers, this is a fastball down the middle, delivering all you could ask for in terms of size, richness and nuance, as well as actual notes of Napa Valley terroir. If we told you this was a $30-40 Cab, you would have no reason to question it since even that would be a pretty sensational deal for legit Napa Cabernet in today’s world.

Like its predecessor, perhaps the biggest plus for us is that it actually tastes like good Cabernet. Simply put, this is the ‘resolution’ to all of our Napa value Cabernet needs… at least while it is around. Once again it isn’t going to make a gigantic splash in the marketplace because only 700 cases were produced this time around. So grab this needle-in-a-haystack/holy grail/unicorn Cabernet value while you can. Last year’s version sold out in a flash and we suspect those folks will happily be back for the next round. Wines like this don’t come around all that often, and they usually don’t hang around very long.

KILLER CAB BUY ‘HECHO EN MEXICO’

There’s a lot to digest here, starting with the fact that this is America’s oldest winery, founded in 1597! The land was granted by King Felipe II for the planting of grapes in that year, establishing Bodegas San Lorenzo, now Casa Madero, as a wine-producing estate. There has been a buzz about the emerging wine culture in the Guadalupe Valley in Baja California, but these folks have a few centuries on them.

Located in the Parras Valley, in north-central Mexico, in the state of Coahuila, the vineyards lie above 4500 feet with sunny days and cool nights during the season. The Casa Madero Cabernet Sauvignon Valle de Parras 2017 was a real surprise to us, not only from a historical perspective but because it was an excellent option for that difficult ‘good Cabernet under $20′ niche.

The grapes were hand-harvested and then sorted. This 100% Cabernet saw 24 months in new French oak and then was bottled unfiltered. Plenty of stuffing here with the alcohols still registering under 14%, both red and black fruits are part of the mix with notes of earth, toast, and a whiff of mint. Closer to the weight of a red Bordeaux than a California Cab, with plenty of ripe character, this got our attention and we suspect it will surprise a lot of you simply on the basis of being a tasty, well-made Cab for a good price. The history is a bonus.