2021 Cloisonne Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
2021 Cloisonne Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Tasting like a wine three times its retail price, this juicy, plush and fleshy red shows structure and elegance. Black plum, dark chocolate and satin-lined tannins pave the way to a powerful finish. Robust bramble fruit and tart cherry aromas mingle with savory spices, and milk chocolate and develop into blue fruit and cigar box spices as they coat the palate. Layers of raspberry jam, dusty minerality and vanilla lead to a powerful finish.
The hardest wine for us to find is authentic Napa Cabernet at a reasonable price. This is that wine! The wine is made by the great David Rossi who is famous for his single vineyard Pinot Noirs that rival the finest made in California. We sat down with David recently and we always ask him if he is making anything new because his wines are so great and brought out a sample of this wine. We tasted the wine and we loved it and when he heard the price we were floored. The wine is hard core Napa Cab at a ridiculously low price. The wine hails from the 2021 Napa Cab vintage and the vintage is exceptional. Yields were low, berries were small, wines of great intensity and complexity that will be long lived, great for the cellar. Parker’s WA has rated the vintage 96pts confirming the greatness of the vintage. The wine is the 2021 Cloissone Napa Cabernet and it is definitely the finest Napa Cab I have tasted this year under $25. Only one issue with the wine is that not very much was made. David could only make a small a limited batch with the small amount of quality grapes that he could acquire.
Cloisonne is the art of combining bronze, enamel and painting techniques to create sophisticated, ornate surfaces, serves as the inspiration behind each bottle of Cloisonne wine. We combine a deep sense of place, confident vision and brilliant command of craft to produce truly memorable wines. The wine is superb Napa Cab, could easily be priced at double the price. David told me that all the Cabernet is sourced from Rutherford in Napa, one of Napa’s most prestigious location for Cabernet, from a vineyard farmed by Mark Neal. Mark Neal and the Neal Family are deeply embedded in Napa and its soil with Mark’s father Jack starting a vineyard management business in 1968. Many great wines over the years were made from vineyards overseen by Mark Neal. David selected Cabernet clone 33 to make this wine which is the most prized clone in Napa that makes a bigger, richer Cab with a great core of black fruits. We are always on the hunt for great values and the hardest values to find are Napa Cabs. This is a great value that I wish we had more to offer.