Winter Release Meteor Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon
2019

Winemaker’s Notes

In terms of fruit purity and clarity of vineyard expression, our 2019 Meteor presents the most vivid representation of site in this standout vintage. This is a wine of place in its truest, most transparent form, not a wine born out of winemaking trickery. So if you favor Napa Valley fruit purity in all its classic elegance, this is the wine to focus upon.

These gravelly white volcanic tufa soils produce grapes that flirt with perfection almost every vintage, which is why the vineyard is so highly regarded and prized by the Napa Valley winemaking cognoscenti. Luckily this Sonoma interloper knows the gate code to access the vineyard!

It’s the wine’s level of fruit density and extract that makes it so compelling – it's completely saturated in dark cool-climate fruit intensity – cassis liqueur, framboise, plum and black cherry. The wine reveals its breezy bayside location with notes of bay laurel, violet, and gravelly minerals which bring a welcome freshness to all the overt richness.

Initially the wine is sleek and focused, but it expands and deepens with air, adding layers of broad richness and deep silky texture. The wine’s structure is round and enveloping. A note of freshly tilled soil adds sweetness and complexity to the finish. Decant for an hour in its youth and drink between late-2021 and 2032.

Andy Smith