Sourced from two vineyards in the Atlas Peak AVA of southeast Napa Valley, this wine is a classic expression of the Atlas Peak mountain terroir.  One of the earliest growing areas of Napa Valley, the area has a history of legendary stories.  Settled by German immigrants in the 1800s, the area was decimated by an overgrown deer population, then received a finishing blow by Prohibition.  Atlas Peak viticulture was later resurrected by Dr. Jan Krupp, who famously used a water witch to locate irrigation sources, after multiple failed attempts by geologists and experts.  Up on a ridge almost overlooking the Napa Valley floor, the Stagecoach Vineyard has been the poster child for what the appellation can achieve, named after a daring stagecoach robbery by the bandit Black Bart, and still has a feel of the wild west.  Further north, and on the opposite slope of Atlas Peak, is Elan Vineyard.  These vines live a beautiful, yet stressful, existence on some steep east-facing slopes.  The volcanic soils of the Vaca Mountain range are not easy on the grapevines, being thin and well-drained, but it is this specific combination of qualities that lend this mountain Cabernet its structure.

 

The grapes are hand-harvested and gently crushed to retain 50% whole berries. The free-run and press wines were kept separate; the resulting bottled wine is almost entirely from free-run juice. Following fermentation, the wine went through malolactic fermentation in barrel. The wine was aged in 56% new French oak and the balance in once-used oak barrels for 20 months with minimal racking. The wine received about ten months of bottle aging prior to release.

 

The 2018 vintage in California was one that rewarded patience.  A welcome reprieve from the string of hot, drought-prone years that preceded it, and the disastrous nature of the wildfires that impacted 2017, this new vintage granted Napa Valley and many other viticultural areas a ripe but balanced crop. The near picture-perfect growing season began with budbreak in late February. Spring was mild, with extended flowering yielding uniform grape clusters. Temperatures remained steady and warm throughout the growing season, without any significant heat spikes, making for an even, unhurried harvest. After a brief bout of rain at the start of October slowed things down a little, the slightly lighter-than-average (yet largest since 2012) crop size allowed continued ripening under gentle conditions.