Alpha Omega, Napa Valley (California) Cabernet Sauvignon 2017

 Robin Baggett got into the wine business with Tolosa Winery in southern California’s Edna Valley AVA.  Considered the state’s coolest AVA, Bagget and his team are producing impressive Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.  Apparently, one winery was not enough, because in 2006 he and his wife, Michelle, moved to Napa Valley to create Alpha Omega.  The winery is in the heart of Napa on the Rutherford Bench and has access to premier vineyard sites throughout the valley.  Their aim is to combine Old World vineyard practices with New World technology to produce terroir-driven wines.  Henrik Poulsen from Denmark and Jean Hoefliger from Switzerland were part of the original winemaking team.  Today, Poulsen is winemaker and Hoefliger is consulting winemaker along with Michel Rolland from France.  The 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon is 94 percent with three percent Cabernet Franc, 2 percent Merlot and one percent Petit Verdot.  It was mostly fermented in barrel with six percent in stainless steel.  Aged for 22 months in French oak, 75 percent new and the remainder one-year-old.  The blackberry, black currant, plum fruit is ripe and generous with savory notes of graphite, baking spices and dried herbs wrapped in a solid foundation of balancing acidity and firm tannins that will allow it to live many more years.