2021 Napa Cabernet, Matthiasson Wines

Our first vintage of Steve and Jill’s Cabernet Sauvignon, something of a contemporary benchmark in Napa, is from the celebrated 2021 vintage. The wine, weighing in at an almost unbelievable 12.5% abv, is somehow dense and elegant at the same time. It’s a blend of vineyard sites, including cooler fruit from Coombsville at the bottom of the valley where the vines are most impacted by helpful fog and ocean breeze, plus the plush, soft fruit of Oak Knoll, and minerally, graphite-tinged fruit from Rutherford. They pick and end up with around 40 ferments, which are kept separate until bottling. The result is a subtle but complex wine, incredibly sapid and drinkable. It’s no wonder this is both a benchmark, and a go to ‘house’ Cabernet for so many of our favourite young Californian winemakers.