Cabernet Sauvignon, Panek Vineyard Rivers Marie, St Helena Napa Valley

2018 14.6%

“In 2018, the Panek family offered us the whole ranch, turning over the three older vine, cordon trained blocks in the back of the property. Not knowing quite what to expect, we vinified and barrelled these separately.

These naturally lower yielding parcels produced wines of enormous concentration and colour. As we sat down to blend, we realized all of these wines were of single vineyard quality, some were even better than most of the blocks we had been working with the last ten years. Eventually we singled out a small block of clone 191 as the most logical addition to the 2018 Panek blend. This block added a tremendous amount of structure to the wine, something that is occasionally lacking from this site. It also darkened the fruit profile pushing the wine from a red/black profile to the a more purple/black expression. The vineyard signature is still there of course but feels fuller and more impactful.”

The wine is deep ruby in the glass with a pretty floral note including violets, darker leather and blackberry. Very appealing aromatics. Juicy and mouth watering from entry through to the finish the tannins are medium bodied, earthy and linger with some subtle hints of old cedar. A complementary brightness from the acidity balances the ripeness of the fruit.

Purple flowers, graphite, cassis and smoke jump out of the glass at first inspection. The texture is more layered this year, due in part to both the vintage and the inclusion of a new block from the vineyard. The palate turns very stony early and then veers to blueberries, dark chocolate and some meaty, iron notes as the finish kicks in. I thought we had taken this about as far as we could with the 2016 but the 2018 is at another level.”