Winemaker Notes
The unrushed extravagance of the 2016 growing season finds full expression in this Hexameter. Opulent notes of Rainier cherry, violets, fresh blackberry, and plum mingle serenely with aromas of dark chocolate, molasses and pencil shavings. Round and resonant, this wine captures the undeniable deliciousness of this spectacular vintage.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
In the same ballpark as the 2015, the 2016 Hexameter (55% Cabernet Franc, 44% Cabernet Sauvignon, and a splash of Merlot) is similarly inky colored and has heavenly notes of black raspberries, cassis, violets, and forest floor. This full-bodied, absolutely riveting 2016 has ultra-fine tannins, is perfectly balanced, no hard edges, and a purity of fruit that’s hard to describe. It’s another legendary wine from this team. Give bottles another 2-3 years and it will knock your socks off over the following 10-15 years.
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James Suckling
A blend focused on cabernet franc, this wine opens broad and ripe in aroma with hints of bay leaf and oak char, followed by native herbs and deep black cherry flavors. Layered, balanced, firm in texture but drinkable and enjoyable.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2016 Hexameter—55% Cabernet Franc, 44% Cabernet Sauvignon, 1% Merlot—features attractive herbal shadings on the nose, plus hints of crushed stone and dried cherries. Full-bodied and concentrated, it concludes with red berries, mocha and some dusty tannins on the long finish. Some of the dessert-like baby fat present in earlier reviews of this wine have melted away, leaving a more classic wine in its wake.
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Wine Spectator
This features a strong tobacco leaf note amid a hefty core of steeped currant, blackberry and plum fruit flavors. Shows solid depth, with a long tug of warm loam and espresso cream through the finish, while the fruit keeps pace. A big wine, exhibiting serious buried minerality. Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon. Best from 2022 through 2038.
OVID is an organically farmed, 15-acre vineyard perched on a secluded mountaintop at 1,400 ft. elevation in the western reaches of the Pritchard Hill geography of Napa Valley. Here, they farm rocky red, volcanic soils to capture a true sense of place and craft long lived wines composed of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Petit Verdot. They ferment only with native yeasts and bottle their wines without fining or filtering.
The Winemaker since 2006, Austin Peterson, combines his site-specific experience with a sense of experimentation, embracing a tension between classical and cutting-edge winemaking methods.
The name was inspired by the Roman poet Publius Ovidius Naso [Ovid], whose METAMORPHOSES, a poetic retelling of the Greek myths, celebrates themes of transformation and change.
Undoubtedly proving its merit over and over, Napa Valley is a now a leading force in the world of prestigious red wine regions. Though Cabernet Sauvignon dominates Napa Valley, other red varieties certainly thrive here. Important but often overlooked include Merlot and other Bordeaux varieties well-regarded on their own as well as for their blending capacities. Very old vine Zinfandel represents an important historical stronghold for the region and Pinot noir is produced in the cooler southern parts, close to the San Pablo Bay.
Perfectly situated running north to south, the valley acts as a corridor, pulling cool, moist air up from the San Pablo Bay in the evenings during the hot days of the growing season, which leads to even and slow grape ripening. Furthermore the valley claims over 100 soil variations including layers of volcanic, gravel, sand and silt—a combination excellent for world-class red wine production.