Pulled from my email newsletter written April 12, 2023:
Bet you’ve noticed my featured wines have been hovering in the $75-$95 range lately. I’ve always believed you can buy the best Napa (and beyond) has to offer for under $100. Still do. Pay over $100 and you’re buying luxury and/or into an exaggerated supply/demand curve. I’m not into feeding that monster.
That’s why I’m always excited to offer wines like Vinehouse Cabernet Sauvignon 2019. It gives everything you want in a Napa Cab: richness, complexity, fruit, spice, power and, finally, approachability and longevity. (which I call an either/or wine: either drink it now or lay it down…winner either way).
Lesley Warner and Alan Peirson (partner in Peirson Meyer Winery until recently) planted Cabernet Sauvignon and Saint Macaire on their Howell Mountain property in 2013/14. Their first vintage of Vinehouse was 2016. The 2019 is the first vintage I’ve tried. Under 300 cases made. I dig it.
Know much about Saint Macaire? It was common in Bordeaux until phylloxera wiped out most vineyards in the 19th century. Don’t see it anymore except for one village southeast of Bordeaux. Alan Peirson likes it…he farms a small parcel of it for O’Shaughnessy Winery, also on Howell Mountain. Vinehouse is the only other plot of Saint Macaire in Napa Valley.
Vinehouse Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 review:
From what I can tell from The Google, Saint Macaire wine on its own is very dark with mouth-puckering acidity and tannins. Through the miracle of co-fermentation (roughly 85% Cab, 15% Saint Macaire) the tannins seemingly soften and the acidity in a ripe vintage like 2019 supports the fleshy wine. The 2019 Vinehouse Cabernet Sauvignon is ripe and juicy with flavors of boysenberries, mocha, cola & allspice. This drinks very nicely now, in its youth, provided you decant it for a couple of hours.