Duckhorn Vineyards, Napa Valley, Cabernet Sauvignon, 2021

This is a Napa Cabernet that is from one of the best, founding wineries in the region. And, as Napa is one of the best regions for growing Cabernet Sauvignon in the planet, this is a wine to take seriously. 

It's stunningly delicious and incredibly well-made, with perfectly knit and seamlessly integrated tannins, a fabulous intensity and depth with a legion of flavours and nuances, all pointing to one varietal and to one region... this is benchmark Napa Cabernet, which is why it is just so good! 

The nose opens with aromatic flavours of blackberry, blackcurrant and blueberry with spices of vanilla pod, chocolate, cedar wood and licorice. The palate is voluptuous, lively and poised, showing blackberry and black raspberry flavours, with rich, chocolaty tannins with notes of black tea-leaf that leads to the wonderfully long, intense, balanced and complex finish.

As with the best of the Medoc Châteaux, Duckhorn's Cabernet is joined by a dollop of Merlot and a dash of Cabernet Franc (5% and 1% respectively) to pad-out the austerity that sometimes accompanies Cab. But this is sunny California and even the hardiest of varieties will yield juicy, vibrant fruit. The addition of the other varieties is then a joy of flavour matching and structural tinkering. It's the winemaker's prerogative, justified by the end results. Following fermentation the wine is aged for 18 months in half new and half neutral French oak barriques. It is a Rolls-Royce production. 

Dan and Margaret have always pioneered Merlot's growth and championed its supremacy in their plans and vineyard developments. Yet they are aware that they are in Napa and their first vintage was of Merlot, of course, but also Cabernet Sauvignon: they made equal quantities of both. It is interesting then that the dominance of Cabernet in Napa's journey is set alongside the Duckhorn vision for Merlot; they have proven to be realists as well as pioneers of Merlot, and the Cabernet sites that they farm are some of the finest in the world. 

The Duckhorn winery was established in 1976 by Dan and Margaret Duckhorn who set out with the aim of becoming one of the best producers in the Napa Valley. They were one of the first forty Napa wineries and have therefore pretty much seen it all, as well as having been part of the developments in the wider US wine movement. With only four winemakers in four decades and a landholding of just under 300 acres, theirs is a labour of determination with contextual awareness and appreciation of potential. There are other wineries doing similar things, but these have been at it the longest and (I reckon) still offer excellent value for money.

Names don't win prizes, but if they did, I'd give a prize to Dan Duckhorn. A hybrid Beano-Warner Brother's legend, he'd be feared for disrupting mayhem with his trusty fowl-imitation device that would render the culprit unable to continue in their misdemeanour upon hearing its mighty quack. But in truth Dan and Margaret set up their Duckhorn winery in 1976 and two years later released 800 cases each of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. From then they have become one of Napa's leading producers, specialising (almost uniquely for the region) as producers of spectacular Merlot.