Winemaker Notes
Tucked up against the southern Vaca Mountain range in Napa’s Coombsville AVA, Farella Vineyard features layers of volcanic tufa, red decomposed rock and ashy deposits from ancient landslides, vast geologic episodes that literally turned this vineyard on its head. Oddly enough, we discovered the site in 2003 when the owners, Frank and Tom Farella, placed an ad in Wine Country Classifieds announcing the availability of Cabernet Sauvignon that had previously gone to Opus One. We were knocking on the Farella’s door the same day and immediately fell in love with the site, and Farella has been part of our portfolio ever since. The fruit for Farella comes from a high point in the vineyard, a block that Tom Farella refers to as “rockpile” because of the preponderance of stone and gravel in the soil. This block is bathed in afternoon sunlight during the growing season, and the wine – concentrated and beautifully-structured --consistently shows a mix of red and black fruits with spice and mineral overtones. Farella is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, comprising Clones 4 and 8.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Their 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Farella Vineyard (425 cases), is made from a vineyard planted in red volcanic tufa soils. The irony is that just about everybody that buys fruit from this vineyard makes better wine than the owner. This is a terrific, almost Bordeaux-inspired wine with loads of minerality and structure, but intense chocolaty, charcoal notes intermixed with blackcurrant, licorice and forest floor. It is dense, full-bodied, stunningly rich and can be drunk now or cellared for another two decades.
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Vinous
The 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Farella Vineyard shows how compelling this site is, exploding from the glass with black cherry, plum, licorice, cloves, menthol and sage. All things considered, the 2014 has aged beautifully. It naturally displays the savoriness of this vineyard and the linear style of the year.
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.
Situated in the southeastern corner of Napa Valley in the Vaca range, the vineyards of the Coombsville AVA enjoy a long growing season mitigated by cool, San Pablo Bay fog.