Cathiard Vineyard 2021

The 2021 vintage in Napa Valley

Vintage benchmark: 95/100 (appellation benchmark, not a score for this wine)

Vintage character: A drought without fire gave small, highly concentrated berries: Napa's great comeback, dense and fresh.

Overall reading of the year’s season across Napa Valley. An estate can depart from it sharply, in frost or hail years, where two neighbours did not make the same vintage. What this particular wine actually gave is on its technical sheet and in the scores above.

Tasting

"A wine composed of the best of its namesake, Cathiard Vineyard displays an intensity and elegance that reflect the very soul of our terroir. On the palate, the wine shows a velvety texture with rich flavors of black fruit, tobacco and spice. Well-integrated tannins offer structure and depth, while a subtle minerality adds elegance and complexity. The finish is long and persistent, embracing the finesse of Old World know-how." - Justine Labbé & Fabien Teitgen

Blend of the 2021 vintage

Cabernet Sauvignon (100%)

Shares for this vintage, as recorded on the 2021 technical sheet. The vineyard itself is planted with merlot, cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, malbec.

Figures from the 2021 sheet

• 14.4 % vol.Alcohol
• 22 hl/haYield
• 35 yrsVine age

Winemaking

Gentle destemming and optical sorting to ensure only the best whole berries are used. The grapes are transferred by gravity into fermentation vats and left to cold-macerate for up to 5 days. Fermentation temperature is controlled, with gentle handling through pump-overs and punch-downs. After 30 days in vat, the wine is drained off, pressed, and undergoes natural malolactic fermentation in new French oak barrels.

Ageing

Barrel ageing for 18-20 months, 80% new French oak.

Terroir

All of these improvements in the vineyard have been met with some pleasant surprises and with very distinctive expressions of certain parcels. "Up and Down", the highest hillside parcel, has a tannic profile, firm, tense and fresh, while "Backbone", located on sedimentary soil, offers a more fleshy and unctuous profile, allowing for wonderful blends.