Cain Vineyards and Winery, Spring Mountain District – Napa Valley (California) 2017

 Cain’s estate vineyards are located high on Spring Mountain.  They have experienced wildfires for many of the last few years, including during this 2017 vintage.  The vineyard team only managed to harvest 60% of their fruit in 2017 before smoke impacted the quality of the fruit and so Cabernet Sauvignon was not picked at all in this vintage.  I must admit I failed to collect details on the specific blend here, but I’m not sure it matters much as the wine is in such a beautiful place (the components include the basic red Bordeaux varieties).  This wine balances the opposing forces of market expectations (for dark, rich, powerful wine which is obvious upon the first sniff of sweet/tart cassis and dark chocolate) along with their earned knowledge (about what their site can offer as processed through decades of making wine).  This second part of the equation may be more important as the resulting wine shows such drive, freshness and energy in the mid-palate that the darkness and seeming ripeness of the aromas is all but forgotten.  This is impeccably balanced and should work well with a huge variety of foods.  Impressive and tasty.