Lot 10 2023 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

With great numbers comes great responsibility! So, how about some Mountain Muscle?

Legendary Hillside vineyard? Check.
Insider blocks? Check.
90% new French oak? Check.
$200+/bottle price point? Check.
Producer bottling blend? Check.

Showcasing a combination of hillside meets mountain power, Lot 10 2023 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is a huge, ripe, muscular combination of meaty yet high-toned Coombsville fruit (58%) blended with 42% of some of the Cabernet best blocks from the massive "vineyard that must not be named" that straddles Atlas Peak to Pritchard Hill (I used to source fruit from this vineyard so I know it well; however, to be honest, I was never able to work my way into these blocks as they were reserved for the who's who of consulting winemakers/luxury brands). Aged in~90% new French oak (Taransaud, Francois Freres, Seguin Moreau, etc.) and built for a $200+/bottle price tag, it's easily got the stuffing to go 20+ years in your cellar. 

Originally intended as a new, Icon-level offering for their portfolio (the program names are built into the lot codes), the producer simply wanted to reduce inventories and we split the final blend. The wine just hit our barn last week and goes into the bottle at the end of the month. There are approximately 200 cases remaining.

Squid ink in the glass with just a peek of vibrant purple around the rim. The bouquet is densely packed, almost concave, drawing you down before revealing layers of black cherry and boysenberry jam notes framed with dark chocolate, savory cardamom and black pepper/seasoned oak. As it opens, wild sage, red rock and violets florals complex the nose but, clearly, there is more to come here. Rich, ripe and muscular on entry, it presents a palate staining structure of big-grained, red rock slathered tannins that seamlessly unfurl perfectly delineated black and blue fruits finishing with a flourish of raspberry kirsch, black pepper and dark chocolate. Dense and tightly wound swaddled in baby fat, give this bad boy and good year or two in the bottle before poaching!

58% Coombsville, 42% Napa Valley (a combination 2 single vineyards, one of which is estate)
95% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Petite Verdot
90% new French oak, Taransaud, Francois Freres, Seguin Moreau.
~270 cases produced
Alc. 14.9%
Bottled June 27th

SHIPPING IS INCLUDED ON 12-BOTTLE CASE