Wine & Spirits - Winter 2019 - 87

It's concentrated with flavors of fresh blackberries and blueberries; there's a molasses
note, perhaps from the new American oak
barrels in which the wine aged, but the density of the wine itself mutes any overt oak
influence. The high ridges of the Santa Cruz
Mountains provide an awesome view of the
Pacific coast, and this wine has the potential
to inspire the same sort of awe. (W&S 10/19;
4,300 cases) -J.G.

517756

95 | Duckhorn

$150

2015 Napa Valley The Discussion ^ Renee
Ary focuses this wine on Duckhorn's top
estate parcels rather than varieties, blending cabernet sauvignon (66 percent), merlot
(29 percent) and small amounts of franc and
petit verdot. She ages the wine in new French
oak barrels for 18 months, then lets it rest in
neutral oak for another six months, where,
in 2015, it developed the seamless beauty
and textural finesse that's already apparent
on release. It tastes like good benchland cabernet, with tobacco scents adding depth to
the wild mulberry flavors. The grape-skin
tannins create tension in the wine, corralling all the tropical chocolate richness and
focusing it into the layered pre-expression of
a rose bud, packing scents of cherry skins and
morels into a wine with years of development
ahead. (W&S 10/19; 2,025 cases) -J.G.

BEST CABERNET FRANC
517935

93 | Corison

$100

2016 St. Helena Napa Valley Helios Sunbasket Vineyard Cabernet Franc ^ For three
decades, Cathy Corison consistently relied
on Sunbasket, a vineyard just to the north
of her winery, for part of her St. Helena Cabernet Sauvignon. When she purchased the
site in 2014, she began to bottle the fruit
as a vineyard designate. In 2016, the franc
from Sunbasket has the kind of clarity and
earthy detail that the variety rarely delivers in Napa Valley. While the flavors are rich
and fully saturated, the wine feels relatively
light as it opens and the tannins yield their
cool, herbal complexities. Decant this if you

open it now, to serve with seared duck breast.
(W&S 10/19; 100 cases) -J.G.

BEST CABERNET
SAUVIGNON
515339

96 | Mount Eden

$80

2014 Santa Cruz Mountains Estate Cabernet Sauvignon ^ It's rare to find a cabernet with such elegance and precision that's
also firmly grounded in the grandeur of the
Pacific coast. Jeffrey Patterson grew it on 13
acres of vines he planted in the early 1980s:
He propagated the plants from three acres
Martin Ray had established on the property
in the 1930s, having selected cuttings from
La Questa Vineyard, a site Emmett Rixford
had planted in the late 19th century, with cuttings he imported from Château Margaux.
The third generation of those immigrant
vines now prospers on a ridgetop 15 miles
from the ocean, where they grow fresh, ripe
grapes and sustain a robust community of
yeasts to ferment those grapes into this fragrant, bright cherry-scented wine. It's delicate and brisk, tingling with cool, hungerinducing juiciness, even as its stature and
staying power suggest waiting ten years or
more to get the most out of this California
original. (W&S 4/19; 1,092 cases) -J.G.

BEST GRENACHES
515558

94 | A Tribute to Grace

$50

94 | Terre Rouge

$30

2016 Santa Clara Valley Besson Vineyard
Grenache ^ Angela Osborn gets just three
tons of Besson Vineyard grenache, planted in
1910. The wine's old-vine expression is forthright: It's there in the color, the dusty red of
cinnamon powder in the sun, and in aromas
that mingle cherry blossoms with tar; it's also
palpable in the ripe, velvety cherry flavors.
The texture is a marvel, seamless and elegant,
and the wine feels complete-a feeling that
got only more profound after the bottle was
open for three days. (W&S 2/19) -P.J.C.
515122
2016 Sierra Foothills L'Autre Grenache ^
While many great California wines show
their provenance in sunny fruit, this takes an
earthier direction. It feels as cool as a root cellar, its flavors completely savory, with brisk
red fruit and dark tones of green olives, roses
and woodland mushrooms. Those flavors
have clarity and detail, lasting with freshness.
Distinctly Californian, from an underground
perspective. (W&S 2/19; 325 cases) -J.G.

https://www.grahams-port.com https://www.duckhorn.com/product/2015-duckhorn-vineyards-the-discussion-napa-valley-red-wine?pageID=C238E0A2-0461-1A70-C287-9A0920BB3716&sortBy=DisplayOrder&maxRows=36&&productListName=The%20Discussion%20Estate%20Grown%20Napa%20Valley%20Red%20Wine&position=1

Wine & Spirits - Winter 2019

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