Napa Valley and Cabernet Sauvignon: A Perfect Match

 BY CHRIS SAWYER

BV Historic GDL Wine Photo Courtesy of Beaulieu Vineyard

The Napa Valley has been cultivating grapes since the 1700s, but Cabernet Sauvignon was not introduced to the area until the late 1800s around the time when industry icon, Charles Krug opened the first commercial winery. A decade or so later, Beringer and Inglenook followed suit.

BV Georges de Latour Vineyards

Cabernet Sauvignon // Spottswoode Photo by Bob McClenahan

At the time, America was captivated with Bordeaux wines, and in 1889, Inglenook gained worldwide notoriety with their Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon grown in Rutherford, which won the Gold Medal at the prestigious Paris World Fair. This accolade ultimately drove attention to the Napa Valley and set the stage for the region’s potential to produce premier Bordeaux-style wines.

Celebrating its 120th anniversary in 2020, the Rutherfordbased Beaulieu Vineyard has become a benchmark of Napa Valley style: An iconic winery responsible for the success of world-class wines made with Cabernet Sauvignon grapes planted before prohibition and after the modern boom of largescale plantings, which began when Robert Mondavi opened his winery in Oakville in 1966.

In French, “beau lieu” means “beautiful place.” Before Georges de Latour and his wife Fernande started the classic “BV” brand in 1900, early signs of success were already apparent from wines made with fruit from Cabernet vines planted on the Rutherford Bench, a distinctive vein of alluvial soils wrapped around the small provincial town of Rutherford and the base of the Mayacamas Mountains west of Hwy 29.

After the devastating phylloxera louse swept through the Napa Valley in the 1890s and prohibition limited sales, Latour helped producers by importing disease-resistant rootstock and developed new estate vineyards. On his trip to France in 1938, he hired gifted winemaker André Tchelistcheff, who made the BV wines until he retired in 1973. As a tribute to the proprietor and the unique growing conditions in the Rutherford Bench, Tchelistcheff crafted the Georges de Georges de Latour (center) with ranch foreman and guests at BV Vineyard circa 1939 Courtesy of Beaulieu Vineyard Latour Private Reserve, which became the Napa Valley’s barrels in the cellar, which first “cult” Cabernet when it was helped take the flavor profiles released in 1940. Tchelistcheff and texture of Cabernet to an is also known for his famous entirely new level.” quote, “It takes Rutherford dust to grow great Cabernet. The BEYOND slogan “Rutherford dust” is now RUTHERFORD associated with notes of choco- As the years have passed, other late, cherry, spice, and earth in classic Rutherford Cabernet prothe wines from the region. ducers like Caymus Vineyards,

Joel Aiken, who succeeded Freemark Abbey, Honig Winery, Tchelistcheff as head wine- Sullivan Rutherford Estate, Frogs maker at BV from 1985 to 2009, Leap, Cakebread, Peju Province said the positive shift forward and Sequoia Grove have been in style has helped increase joined by a new breed of exciting the number of high-quality brands from the 1990s forward. Cabernets made with premium An excellent example grapes grown throughout Napa is Frank Family Vineyards, County. “In our case, at BV where General Manager and in the 1990s, we were able Winemaker Todd Graff works to update and develop a wide closely with his vineyard team range of exciting new Cabernet- that cares for each individual based wines that were much block of Cabernet planted on more modern, focused, and the winery’s estate properties balanced. In the vineyard, in Rutherford, St. Helena, and we started using new special around the winery in Calistoga. Cabernet clones and fine-tuned “Todd is always insistent that our farming practices,” said the acid levels are harmonious Aiken, who currently bottles to allow our Cabernet selechigh-end Cabernet releases for tions to shine when young and the Scattered Peak label and develop more character in the Aiken Wines. “The same can be cellars,” said proprietor Rich said about the use of new yeast Frank, who established his strains and artisan French oak family’s brand in 1993.

A few miles north in Saint Helena, there are more great Cabernet houses that represent links from the past to the present, including: Charles Krug, founded in 1861; Louis M. Martini, 1933; Newton, 1977; Spottswood in 1982; Crocker Starr in 1997; to name a few.

There are plenty of wineries that produce Old World-style offerings as well. An excellent case in point is the small-batch allotments of fine Cabernet wines from Canard Vineyard in Calistoga. Winemaker Brian Graham said he likes how the purity of fruit flavors and character of the vineyard comes to life in the 500 cases he makes annually at Canard. “Instead of being big, fruit-driven, and powerful, it’s a wine with fresh and lively flavors that explode at the mid-palate and lead to a dry finish that becomes more textured as the wine expands in the glass.”

On the more southern end of the valley, additional contributors to the Cabernet phenomenon include Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars on Silverado Trail near Napa, which produced the legendary 1973 Cabernet Sauvignon that received the top red wine honor at the famed Judgment of Paris showdown in 1976; a unique series of high-end FrancoAmerican projects, like Opus One in Oakville and Dominus in Yountville, which began in the late 1970s; and the noteworthy achievement by Groth Winery in Oakville, which became the first Napa Valley Cabernet producer to receive a 100-point score from wine critic Robert Parker for its 1985 vintage.

This magical combination of power, elegance, and stylish new Cabernet-based wines can be made at higher-elevation sites as well. In the case of the Mayacamas Mountain Range to the west, one of the first brands to lead this charge is Diamond Creek Vineyards. Newlyweds Al and Adelle “Boots” Brounstein purchased this isolated 70-acre parcel in 1967. After planting separate blocks on the four distinct soil types. When these four distinctive single-vineyard wines—Gravelly Meadows, Volcanic Hill, Red Rock Terrace, and Lake, all from the 1972 vintage—were released, the winery became the first in Napa Valley to charge $100 per bottle. Since then, the terroir-driven character of the Diamond Creek wines became a benchmark for working with high-quality estate fruit, mountain farming, and an inspiration to a multitude of gifted winemakers and premium producers that have gone on to create some of California’s most prized red wines.

From a geographical standpoint, the vineyards are influenced by sunny days, cool nights, and well-drained soils that produce a plethora of elegant, complex and age-worthy wines every year from producers located on the eastern-facing slopes of the Mayacamas Range, such as Mayacamas Vineyards, Spring Mountain Vineyards, Newton Winery, and other highelevation brands situated in the sub-appellations of Spring Mountain and Mount Veeder.

The same is true on rockier, west-facing slopes on the rugged Vaca Mountains, which includes the sub-appellations of Howell Mountain, Atlas Peak, and Coombsville, portions of which can be seen running along the hillside slopes from St. Helena to the south of Napa. Further east are the Pope Valley and Chiles Valley appellations. The volcanic soils that comprise these mountainous AVA’s are best known for producing superlative Cabernet Sauvignon grapes and some of Napa’s most refined wines known for their classic complexity, intense flavors, and balanced tannins.

Together, all these points are what make the Napa signature experience of Cabernet Sauvignon recognizable on a global scale.