Description
Grapes for Steve Matthiasson’s Napa Cabernet come from Phoenix Vineyard, an east-facing steep hillside at the base of Mt. Veeder, on a bluff of royally unique ancient marine shale soils overlooking the Oak Knoll District of Napa Valley. Additional fruit is sourced from long-term lease contracts farmed by Matthiasson in Coombsville, Oak Knoll, and Rutherford (two sites), one on Mount Veeder and one in Calistoga (in the Franz Valley). There are no additions beyond sulfites. Compact and energetic with super-savoury notes of black olives, sagebrush and dried tobacco, crunchy red currant fruit, and expressive graphite. A firm spine of mouthwatering acidity imbues the wine with serious staying power. In their youth, these wines will not give you much at the pull of the cork but wait six hours or a day or two days even, and oxygen works at them to reveal the effects of ageing as the wine becomes suddenly more open-knit and generous. So, give them 20-30 years, and the fireworks will go off. If you’re a collector, stash these away and don’t touch them for two decades. For everyone else, decanting is a must, and patience will be rewarded.
- Country: United States
- Region: California
- Appellation: Napa Valley
- Size: 750ml
- Color: Red
Varietal
Cabernet Sauvignon
By far and away the most recognized and widely grown red wine grape varietal in the world is the Cabernet Sauvignon. First cultivated in the 18th century in France, this wonderful cross of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc grapes has long since been the most important varietal for red wines across the globe. Now grown everywhere from its native France to the furthest reaches of the New World, Cabernet Sauvignon is adored and prized by wineries for its hardiness and resistance to rot, as well as its large and sharp flavors and wonderful capability for fine aging Indeed, many of the finest wines of history and the modern age would be simply unimaginable without Cabernet Sauvignon grapes, with the famed wineries of Bordeaux and other important regions using it as the primary grape in their oak aged produce. High tannin levels, acidity and powerful flavors are the characteristics most commonly associated with this varietal, however, when blended and slowly aged, it is capable of a world of flavors and aromas unmatched by any other grape.
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