Frog's Leap Estate Grown Cabernet Sauvignon 2014
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Wong
Wilfred
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
One of my biggest gripes in the business is how everyone oohs and aahs at the colors of wine and when a red wine is dark the crowd just goes crazy and make comments like, "This must be a great wine because it is so dark!" This conclusion that color indicates quality is so far from the truth—many wineries even add a secret ingredient called mega purple to darken their red wines; this addition has no aroma or flavor value. The 2014 Frog's Leap Cabernet Sauvignon shows a medium ruby color and exhibits beautiful aromas and flavors of wild strawberries, dried brown stalks, pleasant dust and rich earth. The wine's bright finish makes it sublime with a rack of lamb. Drinks well now and will certainly improve with bottle age. (Tasted: September 28, 2016, San Francisco, CA)
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Frog's Leap is a family-owned winery dedicated to sustainable principles and committed to producing wines with balance, restraint and respect for terroir. Frog's Leap makes its home amongst 200 acres of vineyards in Rutherford at the historic ‘Red Barn’. Founded by John Williams in 1981, Frog’s Leap continues to be family-owned and operated. As the owner and winemaker, John has made every vintage for over four decades. Frog’s Leap has earned an enviable reputation for our sincere dedication to sustainable principles and our commitment to handcrafting wines. This noted ‘ghost winery’ was built in 1884 as the Adamson Winery and renovated in 1994 as Frog's Leap's permanent home. A handsome bi-level barrel chai completes the state-of-the-art winemaking facility and guests are received in the warm and welcoming LEED-certified hospitality center.
Now in its fourth decade of production, Winemakers John and Rory Williams hand-craft Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Zinfandel, Merlot, and an Estate-Grown Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon. Using the best of Napa Valley's organically grown, dry- farmed grapes and the most traditional winemaking techniques, Frog's Leap strives to produce wines that deeply reflect the soils and climate from which they emanate. Thoughtfully shepherding both natural and earned resources, Frog’s Leap consistently returns more than it takes from the environment.
First certified by California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF) in 1988 Frog's Leap has been a leader in the industry for decades. Fundamentally, organic farming means that if you take from the soil, you must return to the soil in equal measure. In the case of regenerative farming – a practice firmly embraced by Frog's Leap – you must return to the soil in greater measure than you take. Using a traditional approach to winemaking Frog’s Leap’s intention is to craft wines that are deeply reflective of the influences from which they emanate. Frog’s Leap makes wine of balance and restraint, with respect for the natural expression of the vine. The winery relies on techniques such as crop rotation, green manure, compost and biological pest control to maintain soil productivity and control pests on a farm. Organic farming excludes the use of manufactured fertilizers and pesticides, plant growth regulators and genetically modified organisms. Organic farming involves mechanical weed control (via cultivating or hoeing) rather than herbicidal weed control.
Frog's Leap presents a relaxed approach to enjoying wine. An easy hospitality and warm sense of humor is juxtaposed with a more serious sensibility when making wine. The wines produced range from Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay to Zinfandel and Sauvignon Blanc. The winery has quite the line up to offer and hope you’ll try one of these delicious wines that harmoniously combine quality, sustainability and value.
A noble variety bestowed with both power and concentration, Cabernet Sauvignon enjoys success all over the globe, its best examples showing potential to age beautifully for decades. Cabernet Sauvignon flourishes in Bordeaux's Medoc where it is often blended with Merlot and smaller amounts of some combination of Cabernet Franc, Malbecand Petit Verdot. In the Napa Valley, ‘Cab’ is responsible for some of the world’s most prestigious, age-worthy and sought-after “cult” wines. Somm Secret—DNA profiling in 1997 revealed that Cabernet Sauvignon was born from a spontaneous crossing of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc in 17th century southwest France.
The Rutherford sub-region of Napa Valley centers on the town of Rutherford and covers some of Napa Valley’s finest vineyard real estate, spanning from the Mayacamas in the west, to the Vaca Mountains on the other side of the valley.
Inside of the Rutherford AVA, bordering the Mayacamas, is a stretch of uplands called the Rutherford Bench. (These bench lands technically run the length of Oakville as well). Mountain runoff creates deep, well-drained, alluvial soils on the bench, giving vine roots plenty of reason to permeate deep into the ground. The result is wine with great structure and complexity.
Rutherford Cabernet Sauvingons and Bordeaux Blends garner substantial attention for their enticing fragrances of dusty earth and dried herbs, broad and juicy mid-palates and lush and fine-grained tannins. The sub-appellation claims some of the valley’s most prized vineyards today, namely Caymus, Rubicon and Beckstoffer Georges III.
It is also home to Napa’s most influential and historic personalities. Thomas Rutherford, responsible for the appellation's name, made serious investments here in grape growing and wine production between the years of 1850 to 1880. Gustave Niebaum purchased a large swath of land and completed his winery in 1887, calling it “Inglenook.” Today this remains the oldest bonded winery in California. Georges Latour founded Beaulieu Vineyard in 1900, making it the oldest continuous winery in the state. Latour also hired the famous enologist, André Tchelistcheff, a man credited for single-handedly defining the modern Napa winemaking style.