58% Merlot, 42% Cabernet Franc, co-ferment, from vineyard in Southwest Napa Valley (edge of Carneros, in fact). An honest-to-goodness Right Bank Bordeaux style, Cave Dog red shows off dark red berry & cherry compote, dry aged beef, soy sauce, lavender, and gently roasted coffee beans. While all the flavors will expand with bottle age, it is still a round, smooth-textured, delicious, gorgeous wine now.
Napa winemaker/winery owner veteran Michael Havens launched Cave Dog with his 2014 red wine. There are 3 Cave Dog wines: Spanish white varieties Albariño and Godello and this red. I recommend all three wines whole-heartedly, past present and future vintages. Havens started making wine from this plot of vineyard in the 1990s, calling it “Bourriquot” when he had Havens Winery. This is his 2nd vintage of Cave Dog red. Luck would have the Cabernet Franc and Merlot ripening at the same time, allowing him to co-ferment. This appears to explain the rounder, more supple Cave Dog in 2015.
