2012 Kukeri Wines Cabernet Sauvignon Meadowcroft Vineyard Mount Veeder

2012: A Watershed Year for Cabernet Sauvignon on Mt. Veeder

More than in any Napa Valley AVA, Mount Veeder’s varied expositions, soil types, and high-elevation perches give birth to Cabernet Sauvignons of wildly disparate makeup. Those of you who have laid away bottles of Peter Rubissow’s Mount Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon are well acquainted with the Médoc-like structure and age-worthiness that comes off that cooler microclimate.

Others may recall a Mount Veeder Proprietary Red called “Vinoce” that is drawn off a particularly warm vineyard owned by the late Robin Williams. “Vinoce” is a bold, full-throttle study in concentration, a black-fruit elixir that drinks beautifully right out of the gate.

But if you’re a Napa Valley purist, and just want IT ALL, there’s one specific part of the mountain that consistently turns out powerhouse Cabernet Sauvignons of immense concentration yet buttressed by sumptuous tannic backbone. A half dozen estates are bunched together, scattered along Mt. Veeder Road. The names are like the heart of the order for the 1961 Bronx Bombers: Lokoya, O’Shaughnessy, Mayacamas, and Meadowcroft.

In a 2012 vintage that will never be forgotten in Napa’s mountain AVAs, especially on this specific cut-out of Mount Veeder, all four properties turned out magnificent black-fruit Cabernet Sauvignons of great richness, juiciness, and suppleness.

The rugged soils of Meadowcroft Vineyard, a mix of sedimentary clay and volcanic material, lay on steep slopes 1,200 feet above sea level. Mount Veeder’s 2012 growing season was both mild and extremely dry, the first of four consecutive drought years. After the challenging 2010 and 2011 campaigns, 2012 was a cakewalk on the mountain. Petar Kirilov harvested Tom Meadowcroft’s rows at his leisure, row-by-row, making multiple passes, pushing the envelope on concentration. Charlie Wagner at Caymus called 2012 a “watershed year in Napa Valley,” nowhere more so than on this tiny Mount Veeder jewel where Kirilov crafted the Cabernet Sauvignon of his career.

We were BLOWN away by this wine. The 2012 Kukeri Meadowcroft Cabernet Sauvignon Mt. Veeder is opaque purple-black to the rim. Voluptuous aromatically, infused with notes of blackberry, mountain blueberry, black raspberry, and graphite, tinged with new-wood cedar (the wine was aged entirely in French cooperage, 50% of which was new). Big, bold, and ultra-ripe on the attack, packed with small black-fruit preserves and blueberry, doused with crème de cassis. Alcohol came in at a robust 14.9%, but due to Kirilov’s deft cellar touch, there’s absolutely no sign whatsoever of over-ripeness. The finish is textbook. Firm tannins, excellent mountain acidity. Drink now if you’re half out of your mind … or do as we’re doing and lay this Mount Veeder masterpiece down until AT LEAST the mid-2020s.

$90 elsewhere. $39 this morning, EXCLUSIVELY on WineAccess. Shipping included on 4.

• ABV 14.90%
• Enjoy right away
• % Cabernet Sauvignon