Pilcrow Granite Lake Cabernet Sauvignon 2018
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Wilfred
Wong
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Winemaker Notes
Granite Lake does not just reside in the Howell Mountain AVA, it is on the ridgeline of the mountain itself. The soils are dusty and red, rich in iron and volcanic debris deposited during the valley’s turbulent, secondary eruptions. Combining this low-vigor soil, 10% slope and 2,300 feet of elevation and you have the perfect recipe for a classically-styled Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon. Granite Lake Cabernet Sauvignon interprets this terroir construct with friendly but firm tannins paired with low pH and bright acidity. Sitting above the fog line adds a sense of warm, red fruits (think: raspberry, strawberry and plum) that is balanced with a sense of red rose, rainwater-minerality, and herb. The mostly used barrique allows for the structure of the wine to be predominantly fruit-based which gives it the dual personality and promise of long life in the cellar and dynamic, hour-by-hour changes in the glass.
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
Dramatically darker and more intense on the nose, very clearly stating its rustic, Howell Mountain origins. Cigar box, charcoal and black currants on the nose. The texture is a step up in richness and concentration from the other Pilcrow Cabernets, but loses no grace, restraint and purity. A very long, powdery and persistent finish. As simply delicious as it is heady and complex.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2018 Pilcrow Granite Lake Cabernet Sauvignon offers the excellent harnessed muscle from the Howell Mountain AVA. TASTING NOTES: This wine brings a rush of black fruit, dried earth, and savory spices to the fore in its aromas and flavors. Enjoy it with a grilled, well-marbled ribeye. (Tasted: March 13, 2021, San Francisco, CA)
Other Vintages
2019-
Wilfred
Wong
Each vintage of Pilcrow is to celebrate the humanity of craftsmanship through small-lot wines that value grace and thoughtfulness. As new vineyards, new varieties and new vintages present their unique selves, this resolve will remain the same. Terroir, in its most broadly defined sense, is a summation of the differences that exist between unique vineyards. The fine-wine ambition that drives Pilcrow makes the clear expression of terroir an absolute and an ideal. By looking for, caring for, and safeguarding the differentiating characteristics of each vineyard they stay alert, as vintners, to the exceptional possibilities of each wine.
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.
Today Cabernet Sauvignon is the star of this part of Napa’s rugged, eastern hills, but Zinfandel was responsible for giving the Howell Mountain growing area its original fame in the late 1800s.
Winemaking in Howell Mountain was abandoned during Prohibition, and wasn’t reawakened until the arrival of Randy Dunn, a talented winemaker famous for the success of Caymus in the 1970s and 1980s. In the early eighties, he set his sights on the Napa hills and subsequently astonished the wine world with a Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon. Shortly thereafter Howell Mountain became officially recognized as the first sub-region of Napa Valley (1983).
With vineyards at 1,400 to 2,000 feet in elevation, they predominantly sit above the fog line but the days in Howell Mountain remain cooler than those in the heart of the valley, giving the grapes a bit more time on the vine.
The Howell Mountain AVA includes 1,000 acres of vineyards interspersed by forestlands in the Vaca Mountains. The soils, shallow and infertile with good drainage, are volcanic ash and red clay and produce highly concentrated berries with thick skins. The resulting wines are full of structure and potential to age.
Today Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Petite Sirah thrive in this sub-appellation, as well as its founding variety, Zinfandel.