Mayacamas Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon 2019

It was another terrific year for Napa Valley Cabernet. The 2019 season sits alongside the benchmark years of 2013 and 2016 and is a more than worthy follow-up to the acclaimed 2018 that preceded it—albeit one that produced wines in a very different style. Conditions were cool overall; in fact, 2019 was the sixth coolest vintage in 20 years, and high levels of rainfall mitigated the hydric stress so common in the region, especially for growers like Mayacamas that prefer dry farming. A warm end to summer paved the way for healthy crops of ripe, powerful fruit with perfectly mature tannins, mountain fresh acid lines and opulent, supple texture. It’s a stellar release that, as Jeb Dunnuck says, is “shaping up to be magnificent”.

Concrete (65%) and stainless-steel vessels (35%) were used for fermentation. Post-fermentation, the wine rested in large-format foudres for 20 months, followed by 14 months in French barriques and the usual two years in bottle.