2014 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
The wine has a massive, highly aromatic nose of dark fruits and black truffles. More dark blackberries, followed by cedar, cassis and crispy bacon.
The 2014 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is our first ever Cabernet hailing from my former stomping grounds of the Napa Valley. The vineyard lies on the east side of Highway 29 in the town of St Helena. The vineyard is owned by Andy Beckstoffer and is one of the most prized plots of land in the Napa Valley. 2014 was a very early, hot, dry year and this fruit was picked in early September. It came to us 72 hours after it was picked in a refrigerated truck.
Once off the truck we immediately destemmed the fruit with no crushing of the berries. We followed the destemming up with a 5-day cold soak at 50 degrees to insure the most extraction possible. Fermentation lasted nearly 3 weeks and was pressed off at full dryness. Only the free run was captured and then put down to barrel for aging. We used 70% new French Oak barrels from the Cooper Taransaud. After 20 months of aging we bottled the mere 152 cases in early July. The wine is a masterpiece and I am so excited for you to try it!
The wine has a massive, highly aromatic nose of dark fruits and black truffles. More dark blackberries, followed by cedar, cassis and crispy bacon. This wine will easily age for 12 to 15 years but enjoy it in its youth too. If you can, I would recommend decanting it before drinking.
My ideal pairing with the 2014 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is a Bacon Wrapped Filet Mignon from Schmidt’s Meat Market in Nicollet, MN. Preferably, Medium Rare with an aged Balsamic Vinegar drizzled over the meat.
