While I was in California back in February, I decided to open a few bottles of Napa Cab to see how they’ve evolved at their different ages. However, this comparison also highlights how the style of Napa Cab has also changed over the years.
Napa Cabernet In a Nutshell
Like in Chile, winemaking was introduced into California, including Napa, by the Spanish missions. For California, this was around the late-18th Century. For Napa in particular, the region started to grow by the early mid-19th century with George Yount establishing commercial vineyards there during Mexican rule. Soon after, John Patchett is credited with making the first winery. His winemaker was Charles Krug, still a big name in Napa.
By the late 19th century, Napa wine eventually started to gain some reputation around the world and grew to be the biggest winemaking region in California. Of course, Prohibition created a roadblock that slowed down the Napa wine industry until the 60’s with pioneers like Robert Mondavi deciding to focus on Cabernet Sauvignon. More producers started to focus on single vineyard, higher quality wines too. Then the 1976 Judgement of Paris really put Napa back on the map in the world after Napa wines beat many famous Bordeaux and Burgundy wines. Partnerships like Opus One, with Mondavi and Mouton Rothschild in Bordeaux, started to make the future of Napa and Bordeaux inextricably linked.
Robert Parker’s Influence on Modern Napa
Another big part of that was Robert Parker, whose higher scores for cleaner, riper wines with more new French oak, helped make Napa enough money to continue to reinvest in quality. This also pushed Bordeaux to improve, so both Bordeaux and Napa saw a renaissance in the 80’s.
As climate change and the push for higher Parker scores continued, Napa wines started to push the envelope in terms of extraction, ripeness and oak by the late 90’s. This trend has continued in Napa for many wineries even until today, but there’s also a movement back towards more restraint, less oak and more freshness, which starts to reappear more after Parker starts pulling away from reviewing wines. I believe his last vintage reviewing Napa was 2013 or 2014 although he didn’t officially retire until 2019.
I’ve had Napa wines from the 70’s and 80’s, and the style is still more classic and restrained overall than even current Bordeaux wines. I’ve also had some big name wineries that emerged from the 90’s, which show the modern, richer side of Napa although the very best still show elegance and freshness. However, these days I’m tasting more wineries in Napa and Sonoma showing more restraint and less oak despite climate change. The former two have also shown the ability to age but for different reasons. The older wines from the 80’s tend to have more acidity and elegance to keep the wines strong today while the 90’s and early 2000’s Napa I’ve tried can age because of their fruit and tannic structure, but I still tend to find some to be flabby. However, California producers who still stick to the Parkerized style, I might find flabby even in their youth still because I prefer more acid and elegance in general. It’s still too early to see how current more restrained Napa wines are going to age.
Wine Cellar Insider has a more comprehensive history of Napa here. I want to get to the wines though. I have a bottle from the more classic 80’s, one from 2013 during the end of Parker’s era and one from 2017, which may or may not start to show the trend away from Parker. Obviously, vintage conditions and producer quality/style might also make a difference here.
Tasting Notes
1986 Monticello “Corley Reserve” Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
This is a family estate run by the Corley family since 1970. The family is currently experiencing a dispute over the estate between the children of its founder, Jay Corley. They can’t agree if they want to keep it or sell it. The winery’s house is inspired by Jefferson’s Monticello house since Jay Corley was inspired by Jefferson, a wine grower and enthusiast himself.
This is their top wine from estate vineyards across various districts. The color is clear and browning. This immediately has open dried fruit and other tertiary notes like mushroom and tobacco. There’s some spice and chocolate. The palate is medium-bodied with plus acidity. Not the most complex, but it has typical aged Cab notes. And I find it typical of Napa from the 80s when wines were more classic, higher in acidity and lighter compared to the riper, fuller and oakier modern Napa Cabs. After 2.5 hours, it fades a lot, so this is not a wine to age much longer. 90
2013 Provenance Rutherford Napa Cabernet
This winery after this vintage was sold to a producer in Lodi. The founding winemaker was Tom Rinaldi, who also was the original winemaker at Duckhorn. Provenance had a reputation for typical rich and fruit-forward style Napa Cab at a relative value. 2013 was considered a great year for Napa Cab.
92% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest Malbec, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Aged 22 months in mostly French oak with some American and Hungarian casks. Most of the fruit is from the Beckstoffer George III vineyard and the estate vineyard. Nose starts off fruit dominated but after a few hours it moves to dry fruit and some other tertiary notes. The palate shows dark and dark red fruit with licorice, coffee. Less tertiary. Low acid. High alcohol. Soft tannins at this point. Just rather one note at the moment and I want more acid. 89 On the second day, the fruit has faded and it’s more tertiary and secondary. This particular bottle spent 1-2 years outside the wine fridge at room temperature, so that could be the reason it’s already so mature but also the wine’s lack of acidic structure.
2017 Dalla Valle Vineyards Collina Napa
Dalla Valle is an iconic Napa winery located in Oakville. It has had famous winemakers, such as Heidi Barrett, Michel Rolland and Andy Erickson. Their top wine Maya sticks out from other Napa icons because it’s typically 50/50 Cabernet Franc & Sauvignon. Collina is like the second wine of Maya.
52% Cabernet Sauvignon, 39% Cabernet Franc, 9% Petit Verdot; 20 months in 40% new oak. This comes from the younger vines on the estate. Elegant, silky. Dark and red berry fruit. Floral notes. Chocolate and coffee. More herbal and medicinal than most Napa Cabs, perhaps due to the big amount of Cab Franc. Chalky minerality. Licorice. Spice. Low acid. Rich wine. Still plenty of tannins to resolve but ok with food. Alcohol in check. Favorite of most this night. I just wanted a little more acid personally, but that’s often the case for me and Napa. However, this is not over the top either. Only around 600 cases made. 92
Conclusion
This comparison has more or less turned out as predicted. The 1986 was lighter and higher in acid like other Napa I’ve experienced from the 70’s & 80’s. It’s still alive but at the end of its evolution. The 2013 was still fruit-forward but too low in acid and high in alcohol for my palate. The Dalla Valle certainly shows more finesse for its price and perhaps also because it is starting the trend towards more restraint. At the same time, it’s still low in acid and rich in fruit like Napa’s modern reputation.