NV Cabernet Sauvignon

True Vineyard lies on a bench a few hundred feet below the summit of Howell Mountain. It was planted by Frank Dotzler in the late-90s. The site is nine acres and was literally carved out of volcanic bedrock. It presents an entirely different feeling than the endless rows of vines that carpet the valley floor and lower hillsides. The oaks and pyres of excavated rock that surround the site instill a feeling of intimacy. The site and the wines that emerge from it are incredibly specific. As harvest approaches one can almost see the otherworldly purple aromas waft from out of the rock and amongst the ripening clusters. When the wines are young they taste chiseled. The lavish black fruit, violets and ample tannin are rendered clear by the rock. But ours is not such a wine. This wine has returned to the surrounding forest. Its long, 19th century style elevage, has relieved the wine of all its edges. Violets have become roses and left free to drift among the leaves. For this label we take the image of the Luthéal, a kind of prepared piano which expanded and extended the harmonic register of the piano. It represents, for us, the boundless range of possible expression of Napa Valley cabernet.