The Grgich Cabernet is 79 percent Cabernet Sauvignon blended with a significant portion of Merlot plus a soupçon of Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc. The fruit was principally grown in the winery’s Yountville vineyard, with supplemental fruit from Rutherford and Calistoga. Farming is organic, and yeasts are indigenous.
The wine is youthful, and it feels shy right after opening. With a few hours of air it yields a fragrance of cassis and red currants, rosemary, thyme, and cedar. The body is saturated ruby-red with a clear rim, and the acidity is solid while tannins feel modest. The keynote right now is secondary fruit: black cherry, currants, brambles.
It’s not a grippy wine and not teeth-staining, not tightly wound; it’s beautifully crafted if just far too young. I recommend opening in three to five years, but if you must open it now, give it at least eight hours in a decanter before pairing it with lean rare meats, roasted fowl, or aged or semi-hard cow’s milk cheeses.
14.5% abv | $72 (sample)
