Brandlin Estate, Mount Veeder – Napa Valley (California) Cabernet Sauvignon 2021 ($110)

I can’t lie — sometimes this is a great job. Today’s tasting desk included dueling mountains in Napa Valley, which I realize sounds odd, but there you go, and the exercise shows that there is more to the Napa Valley mountains than meets the conundrum. Brandlin’s Mount Veeder Cabernet (from the southwestern mountains in the Napa Valley macro AVA bordering Carneros) shows a completely different profile from the Smith-Madrone Spring Mountain Cabernet from further north that I also reviewed. Of course this isn’t a negative at all — it is just another mountain heard from, in this case clearly and boldly. I am entranced by the earthy character that offsets the deep black fruit beautifully. This is just beginning to show its charms, so plan to decant long or age longer. Contains 9% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot.
96 Rich Cook