Pretty pomegranate classic. A true *Labor of Love* ... by collaboration of friends and colleagues... hand-farmed, hand-sorted, hand punched down, patiently cave-aged in Ermitage French oak, a hand-labeled single-vineyard, SINGLE-BARREL wine.
It's a long story ---
100% Rutherford hillside Cabernet Franc,
This bottling is a kind of partner
to the 2012 Barrel Select produced from (secretly, until right now) 100% Merlot. Nobody
would have paid $135 for Merlot, but everyone including the hard-to-please
winemaker herself loved that exceptionally rich, velvet-textured wine.
“JC” Clone
My access to the *K-Block* in Western foothills of Rutherford came by Flora Springs' winemaker Paul
Steinhauer. Pauly, as he was called by my colleague Sara Fowler at Peju,
who introduced us, didn't give the fruit away--it was expensive (as Cabernet
Franc, not widely planted, always is). But I was lucky to get it. Cabernet
Franc in the K-Block farmed by the Garvey Brothers was marked “JC” clone, after John Caldwell, the infamous Napa winemaker who smuggled budwood from France.
Cluster and Berry Sorted!
For this single ton, Pauly ran the clusters through his million-dollar optical sorter with air knife.
QUITE THE SETUP. Check out the sorting video he surprised me with as I missed the
moment, I had to fly out of town for the day to pour at a West Hollywood
retailer I promised a personal appearance...
Adding to the love and collaboration, my neighbor the brilliant chef/winemaker/entrepreneur Jim Neal, founder of Fusion
Verjus, kindly picked up that single bin and brought it to my little corner
of Bell Wine Cellars in Yountville where I hand-punched that bin twice a
day... In a white shirt? Check out the photos...
Forward Soil Series
Virage bought this block twice; first, in 2010, a fat
ripe vintage, contributing nicely to the 2010 Virage
blend after we shook off all the botrytis in the field. It's an unusual source
for Virage, dedicated to cool-climate Napa fruit... Because Rutherford is a hot place. This block was a unique opportunity to resolve a conundrum
I had been pondering. Another Napa Valley winemaker, Kevin Morrisey of
Ehler's Estate, who generously tasted through all my first-release wines with me...
way back in the beginning of Virage. (Kevin had real Right Bank Bordeaux
experience and turned out a lovely Cab Franc for Ehler's Estate.) He was so encouraging--and honest. Kevin thought my *cool-climate right bank* story
sounded good, but, in his opinion, it's all about SOILS. He humbly told me, "a monkey could make this wine" of his delicious Cab
Franc. That's how much he believed wine is made in the vineyard.
This block has the same Volcanic soil (the Forward soil series, one of 33 in the Napa Valley appellation)
as my first Cab Franc vineyard source in Carneros, at the *turn in the road*--the Carneros hillside vineyard which inspired the name Virage, near the turn from Carneros onto Highway 29. Rutherford appellation is
located inland from Carneros, therefore warmer. This was a beautiful spot, tucked back in the Western foothills of the Mayacamas, shaded from late afternoon sun... How could I not try it? Was Kevin Morrisey right?
Oh to be a winemaker for a large winery where you can conduct lots of small-lot
tests to perfect your understanding of your fruit. I remember in my early
Napa Valley days when I was a helper for celebrated educator and author Karen MacNeil,
meeting winemaker Bill Knuttel, who created many small lot experiments for Karen's students to
taste up at Chalk Hill Winery. That was the first time I tasted what
process and oak really do for wine--the same lot fermented in stainless steel, in oak, on lees, stirred on lees, malolactic fermentation, and not.
The aromas, flavors and textures ran the gamut... Lest I digress, sorry, but my last and long-awaited wine offering... unless wildfire recovery actually happens...
TASTING NOTES:
We are taking bright ruby-red pomegranate Cabernet Franc in a classic French
style. Aged in Ermitage oak, known to support minerality. I first tasted this wine (other than in barrel), just after
the 10th anniversary of its harvest, on Christmas day 2023. It was
bright and tight! I tasted every night (refrigerated under gas in between using Private Reserve--argon, get
some if you don't already have it--argon is what wineries with no budget constraints use to top tanks). I lost
my notes; this happens now when I drink wine. But it tasted best around January 4th.
Like the 2007 Virage, with its high% Cabernet Franc, which was so tight in the early years...this wine is meant to age, or at least
given serious decanter time. As longtime Virage enthusiasts know, that 2007 is still totally fabulous (sorry, I have the last of it, you have to visit my Airbnb in
Nashville and make me dinner to get it),
Just 21 cases produced. And I'm keeping a couple of them.
