The holidays came early this year for wine lovers, as Premiere Napa Valley Wine Week began earlier this week on November 8th, offering collectors and professionals the opportunity to delve deep into the country’s most famous wine region. Throughout the week, virtual discussions and interviews with wine makers and other industry luminaries, as well as in-person tastings and events—spread throughout six states across the country, in a total of two dozen different locations—will showcase just what makes this region and its wines so special.
There is also the rare opportunity to acquire some of the most coveted, small-production wines in the world. Each year, the Premiere Napa Valley wine auction—the most recent edition took place this past February—showcases the best of Napa, with often paradigm-shifting wines produced in lots from just 60 bottles to a maximum of 240 bottles. Bidding takes place each year at an invitation-only event that’s limited to members of the trade, media, and retailers.
Wines produced specifically for Premiere Napa Valley are crafted in tiny lots ranging from 60... [+]
但是昨天，这些备受追捧的葡萄酒的令人难以置信的选择。首映纳帕山谷在线“建立您的收藏”市场, and vintages stretching back 26 years are available for purchase. I recently had the opportunity to taste through a broad selection of the 2019s, and came away from the experience beyond impressed: These are wines that both express the character of the land they’re grown in and the vision of the producer behind them. They also, because of the minuscule-production nature of them, shimmer with a real sense of creativity, idiosyncrasy, and joy. Below are 15 of my favorites, listed alphabetically, though any one of the examples I was fortunate enough to taste could have made this list. (I’ll be writing about many of the others in a future piece.)
Accendo Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 Napa Valley
地段1，60瓶生产
Toasted oak, cocoa powder, and assertive, tea-like tannins frame blueberries, tar, lavender, candied violets, scorched earth, cherry pits, and black plums. Notes of licorice root, cinnamon stick, toasted cumin, and sun-singed garrigue ride in on the finish. This keeps on building on the palate, with hints of toasted cumin and tar. Hold until 2025 and then drink for the following three decades or more.
Alpha Omega DTT Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 Napa Valley
地块2，60瓶生产
一套紫色水果卷over the palate in concentrated, mouthwatering, sappy waves carrying plums, kirsch-filled chocolate ganache, cassis, blood oranges, and Chinese five-spice powder. Big, balanced, and long. Drink 2024 - 2049+.
Bell Wine Cellars Clone 7 Selection Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 Napa Valley
生产的12、60瓶
这里有很多雪松和香料，这里的高质量橡木，但它确实效果很好，不是叠加的层，而是一个精美的且芳香和芳香的核心。这些转化为紫色和黑色李子，粉红色的胡椒粉，奶油味，橙色油以及少量的甘草和温暖的焦油的浓密而平衡的味觉。压碎的蓝莓也响起。现在和接下来的25年。这是慷慨和结构的。
Faust The Pact Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 Coombsville
生产的38、60瓶
A wave of vanilla, caramel, toasted coconut, and plums follow through to an energetic palate, which flashes with plums and plum pits, currants, lavender, and savory minerality. This is excellent right now, and promises to evolve in particularly fascinating ways for the next 20+ years.
免费公园修道院赤霞珠2019纳帕山谷
Lot 45, 60 bottles produced
这是非常结构化的，具有深深的板岩和花岗岩状的矿物质，为樱桃坑，可可笔尖，咖啡地，木质香料，sappy醋栗和星空的口味提供了一个框架。现在真的很吸引人，如果需要，还有二十年的时间。出色的定义，饰面上有几乎鲜艳的角色。
Grgich Hills Estate Paradise Block Old Vines Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 Yountville
Lot 50, 120 bottles produced
There is such well-defined detail to this wine, a mineral scaffolding to the red cherries, raspberries, mixed mountain berries, and blood orange notes that are gorgeously flecked with cedar and a touch of balsamic herbs through the long, mouthwatering finish. Excellent concentration and length. Drink now - 2041+.
霍尔·萨拉什（Hall sacrashe）葡萄园赤霞珠2019纳帕谷（Napa Valley）
生产的52、60瓶
There is an almost rock-like minerality to the nose here, a flame-charred-meat aroma juxtaposed against blackberries, cedar, and tobacco. These tee up a palate of sweet fruit dripping with dark cherries and purple plums dipped into chocolate ganache, sweet charred vanilla, dried thyme, and a distinct hint of cafe cortado. Best from 2024 - 2044+.
Wines crafted for Premiere Napa Valley include special one-off bottlings from some of the region's... [+]
Matthiasson Phoenix Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 Napa Valley的Oak Knoll District
生产的72、60瓶
丰富的香气让人想起咖啡杯和橡木香料，这在口感上呈乳脂状，大方，李子块锅，黑色覆盆子，淡淡的星星茴香，以及由良好整合的单宁融合的鲜明，淡淡的圆顶框架，在这个阶段，这有望在地窖里长寿。尽管如此，现在很难以其相对开放的角色，慷慨的水果和甜味的香料来抵抗这一点。享受2036年及以后的享受。
Memento Mori Tribus Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 Napa Valley
地段73，60瓶生产
This absolutely sparkles as soon as you stick your nose in the glass—kirsch, cassis, melted black licorice, espresso grounds—before an explosively deliciously palate of balance and power. Plums, fig jam, rhubarb compote, and ganache-enrobed brandied cherries are lifted by flowers and a touch of cracked black pepper before a joyous finish reminiscent of the perfectly charred top of a vanilla crème brûlée. Drink now or hold it through the early-2040s.
PlumpJack Winery Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 Oakville
生产的93，60瓶
Rich and dense yet sneakily lifted, with aromas of flower-kissed blackberries, black raspberries, scorched earth, singed rosemary, and balsamic tones hovering above it all. These set the stage for a palate of drama and ripeness, the decidedly silky texture carrying beautifully polished flavors of dried wild strawberries, rhubarb compote, chamomile, oolong tea, and mixed currants and cherries. Elegant and energetic. Drink over the next 15-plus years.
圆的阿宝nd Estate SVS Gravel Series Blend Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 Rutherford
生产的103、60瓶
Alluring aromas of hoisin sauce and Chinese five-spice powder are complicated by black licorice and German chocolate cake before a palate of sweet, sappy fruit, Amarena cherries, purple plums, cracked black peppercorns, carob, toasty oak, whole cloves, and rocky minerality. This is powerful and dense, yet with excellent detail, too. Drink 2022 - 2042.
St. Supéry Estate Vineyards & Winery Andrew Jackson Dollarhyde Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 Napa Valley
Lot 115, 120 bottles produced
Blackberry pastry creme aromas are decadent, plush, and so intensely appealing, before a palate of sachertorte with a raspberry-jam seam beneath the dark chocolate outer layer. With air, flavors reminiscent of walnut skin roll in, lending a seriously savory character to the cafe viennoise and blood orange notes that are beautifully anchored by a deep core of minerality. Decant to enjoy this now, but it will really show its cherry pipe tobacco, sandalwood, and incense profundity with another 8 to 10 years of repose in the cellar.
Tate Nolan’s Cuvée Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 Napa Valley
Lot 120, 60 bottles produced
Pure, powerful, and layered, this unfurls in petals of candied violets, wild strawberries, Rolo candies, sachertorte, red currants, and mixed mountain berries, with hints of cigar tobacco and cedar running throughout. Sappy tannins are ripe, balanced, and propulsive, and carry through this remarkable wine, which manages to showcase density and energy at the same time. It’s great already, and promises to evolve for another two decades easily.
Hess Collection Winery Ridge 4 Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 Mount Veeder
生产的126、60瓶
Textbook mountain tannins course through this with energy and a deep sense of potential longevity, and carry flavors of smoked tea, forest floor, blueberries, venison, and cracked peppercorns, as well as a sense of brininess and salted caramel on the finish. Crunchy tannins are flashed through with pencil shavings and green olive pits through the long finish. Decant now or lay it down through the early-2050s.
Trefethen Family Vineyards Sleeper Block Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 Oak Knoll District of Napa Valley
Lot 132, 60 bottles produced
Dark and deep, with a clear aroma of cured black Sicilian olives informing black currants and plum pits, before a palate of brown-sugar caramel, cinnamon stick, allspice, mulberries, cafe mocha, and dehydrated blood oranges. At the very edges is a candied violet note, lending this a notable sense of elegance and lift. It looks fantastic right now, with another 15 - 20 years of evolution to come.
