Meyer Family Cabernet Spitfire 2021, Oakville, Napa Valley, California

Meyer Family Cellars is unique among California wineries in the range of its production, which is divided evenly between site-specific wines from both Mendocino County, where the winery is located, and Oakville, one of Napa Valley’s – and the world’s – premier growing regions for Cabernet Sauvignon. The Oakville name is synonymous with excellence in winemaking and is a viticultural treasure among the many fine Napa Valley AVAs. This narrow band of vineyards that slices across the central part of the Valley, from the Vaca Mountains on the eastern side to the Mayacamas range on the west, is, first and foremost, associated with world-class Cabernet Sauvignon. Oakville’s unique combination of well-drained, sandy-gravelly soils and the cooling effects of fog and breezes from the San Pablo Bay, not mention the stellar reputation of its wines, have earned this tiny section of Napa Valley the status as California’s most revered viticultural area. 2021 vintage: Cassis, blackberry, and red-black currant all work in ripe combination across the juicy palate, with secondary notes of cooking spice, eucalyptus, and a hint of licorice. Two years in American oak have added a complex spice box of flavors, showing cardamom layered in a framework of integrated oak tannins. As always, the Spitfire is made for your next steak! The Cabernet fruit was hand-picked into macro bins, then sorted and de-stemmed and crushed into stainless steel tanks. Cold soaking was carried out over 24 hours, and the must was inoculated and pumped over one to three times per day, then pressed before finishing primary fermentation. Once dry, the wine was racked to barrel and inoculated for malolactic fermentation. It was racked again at the conclusion of secondary fermentation and twice more before bottling. Though it was filtered, owing to its time in barrel, fining was not necessary. 100% Cabernet. Barrel aging: 22 months 60% new American oak 40% neutral oak.