Lail Vineyards, Napa Valley (California) Cabernet Sauvignon 2019

 Robin Daniel Lail is one of a pioneering handful of daughters in Napa Valley to take up their father’s profession at a time when only sons did that.  Her father was John Daniel Jr., but the family winery, Inglenook, was sold in 1964.  Lail continued her career in wine, however, and I first met her sometime around 1980 when she was working for Robert Mondavi.  But she has long since made her own wine and now partners with another well-know winemaker in Napa, Philippe Melka.  Their wine here is of particular interest for the sourcing of its grapes, which come from 7 of the valley’s 16 sub-AVAs, as well as its taste profile.  It is a delicious wine with lovely flavors of cassis, blackberries, very ripe plums and creamy chocolate, full-bodied yet lean with well-integrated tannins and just a tad “hot” in the finish.  There is also a savory bitters flavor in the finish, notable but not distracting, that seems to reign in the wine’s richness.  It will age quite well.