Napa Valley made its name on the back of Cabernet Sauvignon and now every winery makes Cabernet the star of the show, even if it's not their best wine. Napa Cabernet Sauvignon is an expression of the different soil types found in, and within, the different AVAs. Wineries proudly show their different single-vineyard or single-AVA Cabernets next to each other to highlight Napa's many
terroirs - once a dirty French word in California.
I've tasted a number of Cabernet Sauvignons over the last two weeks and I have been surprised by the variety of style, though the quality has generally been high. This variety comes from the vineyard, the winemaker, but also the vintage - 2010 had an intensely hot period of 4-5 days which led to rapid maturation of the grapes, 2011 was a cool year, while 2012 and 2013 have been near perfect.
Cabernet Sauvignon is expensive here, due to the price of land, the renown of wineries, and the customers' pockets. The cheapest wine I've tried is
Laura Michael's 2006 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ($47.50), the most expensive Corison's 2008 Kronos Vineyard ($210), with everything in between. Wines that expensive can have the effect of undermining the more reasonable, affordable wines, especially from Chardonnay, Zinfandel, and Merlot - but there's no point going to Napa for inexpensive Cabernet Sauvignon.
the grape
Cabernet Sauvigon's home is Bordeaux, where it is the dominant grape in famous Left Bank appellations such as Médoc, Pauillac, St-Julien, and Château Margaux. In these appellations, however, it is always blended with Merlot and/or Cabernet Franc. In its New World guises, it is often sold as a single-varietal wine, which has led to the grape becoming the most planted in the world. Many New World regulations allow a wine to be labelled as single varietal as long as there is at least 85% (75% in California) of the varietal in the wine. This allows blending with other grapes, and I believe Cabernet Sauvignon is at its most expressive and complex in the company of Merlot and Cabernet Franc, as well as other Bordeaux grapes, Petit Verdot and Malbec, and also sometimes Syrah/Shiraz.
The grape has a very distinct character, which is easily recognisable after a few tastings. Blackcurrants are the most apparent fruit flavour, and the wine can be quite herbaceous with menthol or capsicum aromas. The grape's berries are blue, small, and thick-skinned, which create a deeply-coloured wine and heavy tannins. Cabernet Sauvignon, on its own or in a blend, is often aged in oak, which is where the complexity of the grape really develops. The oak lends aromas of cedar, pencil shavings, smoke, and tobacco, all of which become more mature and complex as the wine ages in bottle.
Besides Bordeaux and Napa Valley, Cabernet Sauvignon excels in Coonawarra and Margaret River in Australia, the latter producing wines particularly similar to Bordeaux. Bolgheri in Italy, like Bordeaux and Margaret River by the sea, is home to some of the world's most renowned wines - Sassicaia, Ornellaia, and Tignanello, all Cabernet Sauvignon heavy wines.
Other areas which produce Cabernet Sauvignon wines worth looking out for, and which don't command the prices of Bordeaux or Napa, are Washington, Argentina's Mendoza, Provence in the south of France, and Hawke's Bay on New Zealand's North Island.
The AVAs
 |
| from winefolly.com |
There are now 16 AVAs in the valley, plus the all-encompassing Napa Valley AVA, all expressing the different microclimates of the area. The valley is surrounded by the Mayacamas mountains to the west, which bring in the morning fog from the Pacific, and the Vacas to the east, which provide protection from the searing inland heat. The Napa River winds through the valley. Despite huge drought issues throughout California, Napa is coping due to underground streams that have provided natural irrigation over the years and allowed wineries to hold stores of water.
As the river heads northwards, the valley gets hotter, from Carneros at the southern end, where much of the region's Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are grown, to Calistoga at the north. The most famous AVAs are in the centre of the valley, Stags Leap, Oakville, Rutherford, and St. Helena. The soils vary dramatically and the microclimates subtly within these AVAs, which is where certain winemakers really focus on single-vineyard expressions of the grape. The mountain AVAs on both sides of the valley are cooler, allowing for a longer ripening season.
The wines
This is the best value Cabernet Sauvignon I have tasted, even though it's still an expensive wine. Nearly six years old this has mature notes of dried fruits (raisins, sultanas) and tobacco, but still has fresh menthol, blackcurrant, plum, and vanilla aromas. The tannins are still high but in check, giving a dry finish but with a juicy fruitness sweetening the wine. Despite its age, the wine has lots of potential yet, with a developing complexity.
Gustavo Brambila began working at Chateau Montelena in 1975, moving his way up the industry until he set up his own winery in 1996 with Thrace Bomberger; the two parted ways a couple of years ago, leaving Gustavo to begin rebranding the project from his small office winery just outside Napa. A shy, serious Mexican, Gustavo makes wines quite different from himself: big, bold, and expressive.
From an AVA I hadn't previously known about to the east of Napa below the Vacas mountains, a cool climate area where the grapes are small and thick-skinned, with fresh, deep blackberry sensations. On the nose, the wine has ripe black fruits, cassis, oak, and vanilla; on the palate, I gulped back the wine and gasped, "Tannins." Gustavo nodded with a small smile, "I enjoy my tannins," before adding that the wine has to be "balanced around" them. And indeed, beyond those tannins lies an engaging, complex, oaky, and ageworthy wine reminiscent of a Spanish red.
Chateau Montelena are at the centre of Napa, and by extension California, wine history, for their Chardonnay was the top white at the
1976 Judgement of Paris. However, it is the Cabernet Sauvignons they have always wanted to be judged by - the 1973 Chardonnay was only released while they waited for the Cabernet vines to mature.
 |
| Chateau Montelena |
The vines are grown above the historic estate north of Calistoga, the hottest part of Napa Valley. The days in the mountains are extremely hot, but the nights cool dramatically, conditions which lead to a longer ripening period and a greater intensity of flavours. Tasted alongside the savoury 2005 and still young 2010, the 2006 had pleasingly aggressive fruity flavours, with sharp tannins, a balanced spicy oakiness, and a long finish. A very good wine, but at a hard to justify price.
12 (twelve) single-vineyard Cabernet Sauvignons are made here, a dedication to
terroir that our enthusiastic guide, ex-surfer Walt, described as Burgundian. This dedication goes as far as having a barn full of stainless steel fermenting vats, one for each vineyard, with another underground cellar with rows and rows of Bordeaux barriques lined up vineyard by vineyard.
 |
| 12 Napa soils |
The four single-vineyard, wholly Cabernet wines were all exceptional, perhaps too much so: there was a cleanness to them which cut out any rough edges, for example in this cooler vintage any herbaceous greenness. Nevertheless, each wine had distinctly different characteristics to them, again demonstrating a real dedication to the
terroir of each vineyard. The Hayne Vineyard, from St Helena, was perhaps my favourite of the four, with fresh black cherries, blackberries, and boysenberries on the nose, fruits which were quite sharp on the palate, overlaid with some dustiness, with an oaky finish giving way to a spiciness which became more complex with each tasting.
Nils Venge has been making wine since
studying at University of California, Davis in the late 1960s, working
at some of Napa's most prestigious wineries, including Groth, whose 1985
Vineyard Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon was the first Californian wine to
score 100 points from Robert Parker. Saddleback began as a side-project whose
first vintage was 1983, producing around 6,000 cases a year.
Most
of the grapes for the Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon are grown around
the large shed that serves as a winery in Oakville, but some also come
from Rutherford and Carneros. Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot are also
blended in, at 7% each. At nearly five years old, this is a young wine
that still needs plenty of time, full of gripping and chewy tannins that
are relieved by a juicy acidity. It's complex and engaging, with
cassis, menthol, violets, and figs; a big, full wine that meets a lot of the Napa stereotypes but which, with its heavy tannins and green, minty aroma, is quite Bordeauxesque.
An astonishing amount of work goes into making Quintessa's one wine, which costs around $150. On their Rutherford ranch, there are 280 acres (of which 92 are forest to maintain a viable ecosystem), 26 vineyards, seven different soils, five hills, five different microclimates, and two lakes. Within the large, concrete winery, a visually stunning design built into the hillside, there are nearly 1,600 square metres given over to oak barrels, of which there are around 3,000 at any given time. Five grapes varieties are grown - Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, and Carmènere.
 |
| Quintessa: 75% of the winery is within the hillside |
From all this, Quintessa produce one wine, a blend of all the various grapes, vineyards, and barrels, which varies each year to reflect the vintage. Having bemoaned the emphasis in Napa on single varietal wines, it is exciting to see a winery so focused on representing the character of a vintage in all its forms rather than making a wine that reflects the nature of the grape. The two vintages I tried were very different, involved expressions of their vintage, as well as the dusty Rutherford
terroir.
2011
The wine has only been in bottle for three months and will be released around October. As already mentioned, 2011 is seen as a difficult year but this is a wonderfully elegant expression of a vintage others found challenging. A young, inky nose with violets, oak, vanilla, and cloves, as well as the usual cassis notes. On the palate, the oak is grainy and toasty, with young tannins and high acidity; there's also a welcome greenness in the form of green bell pepper, from the cooler vintage. At first, the youth of the wine is apparent, taking time to open up and reveal its subtle complexity. The wine slowly unwinds and the oak and black fruits grow more structured, integrated, and dense: this is a serious, intense, yet expressive and elegant, wine.
2010
A much bigger wine right from the nose. The fruits are richer, riper, and darker, with vanilla, liquorice, and chocolate, and an intense pepper spiciness. There's a bitter black chocolate finish, which underlines the more aggressive, less elegant nature compared to the 2011. These two different wines will appeal to different palates, emphasising that Quintessa make wine to reflect the vintage not to target a certain taste in wine.
Trefethen are based in an impressive
nineteenth-century farmhouse, surrounded by 440 acres of vines.
Initially established as a grape-growing farm, high-quality Chardonnay
and Cabernet have been made since the mid- to late-1970s. As with all of
the Trefethen wines, the Cabernets were supremely balanced and
controlled wines - and which benefitted from a little blending with
other Bordeaux grapes.
75% of the
grapes come from Hillspring, a vineyard the other side of the estate
across Highway 29 which provides the water for the rest of the estate.
Blended with Malbec and Petit Verdot, this is a floral, perfumed wine with notes of roses and violets. On the palate, it's
intense but balanced, the fruits, oak, and tannins all integrated
to give a structured wine with a long finish.
 |
| Cabernet grapes dropping before harvest at Trefethen |
A great
opportunity to taste an older example of the previous wine, but one you
have to pay an extra $60 for - buy your wines early for better value.
The wine has matured beautifully, with immediate aromas of leather,
game, and mushroom. The acidity, tannins, and fruits are still highly
expressive, but underpinned with a leathery, oaky spiciness.
Rich, ripe black fruits on
the nose, which are distinctly chewier on the palate; herbal, floral,
and highly perfumed, due to the bay leaves on the
Hillspring property; tannins gripping, but smooth from the long ageing
before release (the wine isn't available until October); oaky and spicy:
despite these big, complex flavours, this is a balanced, integrated
wine with a long, lingering finish.
One of the few wineries owned by a woman, Corison was established in the mid-1990s by Cathy Corison who had been working in Napa since graduating in the late 1970s. Situated on St Helena Highway near some of Napa's grandest wineries, Corison is little more than a large barn full of barrels with a couple of small tasting tables. Despite the humble surroundings, the wines are expensive but, without hestitation, worth the price: it is a pity, though, that only a select few can afford them.
Despite the Napa Valley assignation, this is a single vineyard wine from one that straddles the Rutherford and St Helena borders. The nose is immediate, with up-front black fruits that are not too ripe with a little greenness, and a full Cabernet nose. The palate has good, gripping tannins washed up by balanced, ripe black fruits with a long juicy finish and an oaky backbone.
A perfumed nose with still vivid cassis, but with dried fruits such as currants coming through; a light, developing earthiness/gameiness, with tobacco leaves. Greener on the palate, tannins still gripping, fruits gently fading into dried fruits, backed up by an oaky spiciness. Long, gripping finish, full of lingering spices.
From this supposedly difficult vintage comes this wine with huge ageworthy potential. Aged for even longer than the usual 22-24 months to compensate for the closed, difficult nature of the wine, the 2011 has immediate menthol and cassis aromas, but it's on the palate that it becomes extremely interesting: lots of oak and spice, a young wine full of its potential and ready to mature. The tannins are big and chewy, the fruits juicy, with a long finish.
2008 Corison Kronos Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon ($210)
From vines grown around the winery and planted in 1971, this is a stunning, unforgettable wine. A velvety, floral, perfumed nose of violets, iris, and lavender, with chocolate and deep black and blue fruits: it's the perfume of the nose that makes it's special. On the palate, the tannins are ripe and gripping at the same time, with light, caressing spices on the tongue. The oak is beautifully integrated, to give the fruit a round structure. The acidity is high, lightening and freshening the complexity. The finish is long, gorgeous, and all in balance.
 |
| Kronos vineyard, old vines |
The latter wine is one of the greatest I have ever tasted, just when I was wondering whether the price of Napa Cabernet Sauvignon could be justified. At the levels I've been tasting, it's difficult to correlate quality and price: is a wine ever worth $200? Or, many might ask, $50? But when tasting these wines, there are so many things to factor in: the cost of the land, the sustainable farming many wineries are committed to, the investment needed to run a winery, as well as the rarity factor of some of the wines. My conclusion is that once Napa Cabernet Sauvignon falls below $60, it's less likely to have the qualities and characteristics that make the wines so memorable. These prices may not seem very democratic, but it's been amazing and wonderful to see how excited American visitors to Napa are to taste and to experience the wines the area has to offer.
At their very best, Napa Cabernet Sauvignons are evocative reflections of the area's many microclimates and soils; as much as any region I've visited the wines of Napa are a vivid expression of that very French concept,
terroir.
I conducted a blind tasting of three Rieslings, from the Mosel, Alsace, and Napa, an area certainly not known for its Riesling.
