2020 Cathiard Vineyard, Napa Valley, California, USA
Critics reviews
Jane Anson, janeanson.com (November 2022)
Drink 2026 to 2042
Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux (March 2023)
Joe Czerwinski, Wine Advocate (May 2022)
Wonderful aromas of blackcurrants, dark plums, mint, sage, and dried wood. Some sandalwood. Full- to medium-bodied with tannins that have a fine velvet texture and run down the length of the wine. Extremely polished and refined. Sophisticated. Firm at the end. This will age beautifully. Pure cabernet sauvignon.
Best after 2026
James Suckling, jamessuckling.com (March 2023)
Ripe and juicy blue fruit aromas on the nose with some soft wood spice, acaia, liquorice, and a touch of California heat in the aromas, but smells fresh and inviting. Clean, supple, lively, pure and focused on the palate. Tannins take the fore, mouth-filling with ash, smoke, tar, tobacco edges, leather and some meat, underpinning the blackcurrant, black cherry and blueberry fruit.
Still quite tense, focused in the centre, driving from start to finish in one line, despite the tannins’ slight weight and excellent density. A very soft vanilla sweetness is also apparent. It’s both potent and poised, perfumed and pure. You can’t escape the liquorice and tar undercurrent that marks the wine. Dark, savoury, brooding, a really complete wine.
Lots of personality and manages the combination of having both Bordeaux and Napa sparkle. A delicious first vintage from the new Napa estate owned by Florence and Daniel Cathiard of Smith Haut Lafitte. Directors Justine Labbé and Fabien Teigen, consultants Michel Rolland and Frederick Ammons.
Drink 2026 - 2042
Georgina Hindle, Decanter.com (February 2023)
About this WINE
Cathiard Vineyard
Cathiard Vineyard is an interesting and exciting new Napa project from Florence and Daniel Cathiard, owners of the imperious Château Smith Haut Lafitte since 1990.
The ‘near-ideal situation of the vineyards’ is undeniable, nestled in and amongst some of the greatest names in Napa. The Cathiard Vineyard sits beautifully on the slopes of the Mayacamas Mountains covering the Rutherford and St Helena AVA's. The well drained, predominately gravel and loam soils lend themselves to growing outstanding Bordeaux varietals.
Cabernet Sauvignon
The most famous red wine grape in the world and one of the most widely planted.
It is adaptable to a wide range of soils, although it performs particularly well on well-drained, low-fertile soils. It has small, dusty, black-blue berries with thick skins that produce deeply coloured, full-bodied wines with notable tannins. Its spiritual home is the Médoc and Graves regions of Bordeaux where it thrives on the well-drained gravel-rich soils producing tannic wines with piercing blackcurrant fruits that develop complex cedarwood and cigar box nuances when fully mature.
The grape is widely planted in California where Cabernet Sauvignon based wines are distinguished by their rich mixture of cassis, mint, eucalyptus and vanilla oak. It is planted across Australia and with particular success in Coonawarra where it is suited to the famed Terra Rossa soil. In Italy barrique aged Cabernet Sauvignon is a key component in Super Tuscans such as Tignanello and Sassicaia, either on its own or as part of a blend with Sangiovese.
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Description
This is a great wine to come out of the gate with for the Cathiard’s new property, gorgeously balanced, expands through the mid-palate, delivers dark chocolate, charcoal, blackcurrant, damson, spiced greengage plum and pomegranate fruits with floral undertones (I believe there is a sliver of Cabernet Franc in here, although very clearly the dominant grape is Cabernet Sauvignon). Feels fresher in many ways than the Founding Brothers, without sacrificing concentration and clarity, because the moutwatering acidity is more apparent, giving it a luscious sign-off. 30hl/h yield. This is largely from the Up and down vineyard plot (named by the Cathiards for obvious reasons), where much of the oldest vine stock is concentrated. Justine Labbe winemaker, Frederick Ammons consultant, 80% new oak. Harvest September 10 to October 1.
Jane Anson, janeanson.com (November 2022)
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