2016 Moundsman Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley

The 2016 Moundsman Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley is the result of hundreds of journeys between Carneros and Calistoga in search of Napa Valley’s best Cabernet Sauvignon. On a cool morning in July just over three years ago, our patience finally led to a unique opportunity from a 100-point Napa Cabernet house. 

The winery’s flagship mailing list-only wine fetches $550 if you can find it, and Robert Parker rated their2016 release 100 points. The venerable critic has also said the estate has “redefined” California Cabernet, and has called their recent Cabs “ethereal” and “truly gorgeous.” So when an offer for those same 100-point scoring grapes was on the table, we had to see the property ourselves. 

We piled into a dusty, dirty pickup truck, shivering a bit. A thick blanket of fog was faintly illuminated by a still-rising sun. “This is one mean vineyard, so buckle up,” said the Moundsman, a multigenerational grape grower known for his no-holds-barred demeanor and unmatched grape-growing expertise.

His dog, Rusty, a bloodhound, always rides shotgun—this we knew. It wasn’t our first rodeo in this truck. But we huddled in the backseat, sandwiched between a pile of notebooks and a mostly-empty box of Riedel wine glasses. After half an hour, the smooth, paved road gave way to gravel, then an unforgiving dirt road flecked with potholes. A few bottles of wine in the front seat beside Rusty clinked. We stopped only once—to let a rattlesnake cross the road. It was still just 6:00 a.m. Why had we agreed to such an outing? One reason: the chance at this Cab.   

As for the 2016 Moundsman? In the glass, an opaque ruby wine delivers lavish aromas of boysenberry, ripe blueberry, cocoa, and fine French oak notes. Opulent and silken in texture, this rich, fabulous black-fruited beauty reveals layers of crushed blackberries, blueberry compote, graphite, and elegant, elongated tannins bolstered by juicy acidity in a delicious homage to the best of Napa Valley terroir.

The fella responsible for cultivating the perfect fruit that made this wine was our truck driver—a guy who loves dirt. We can’t tell you who he is, but we can tell you he is a true Moundsman—a multigenerational grape-grower and farmer. 

Winemakers love to talk about how “wine is made in the vineyard,” but then they get all the glory. But the Moundsman? He’s the unsung hero, the digger, the cultivator who has given his all to give us a beautiful bottle of wine. And he knows the whole history of Napa Valley, including all the gossip: Who really planted what; where those “suitcase clones” really came from; if they really dry-farm; how much fruit is truly harvested off each acre—“They’ll say ‘just two tons’,” but they’re getting four or five,” the Moundsman told us, passing by another iconic estate on the way to our final destination.   

The 2016 growing season produced a bountiful crop, but our source didn’t want to over-produce their hard-to-find flagship Cabernet (for most cult labels, success means having demand far outweigh supply), so they called us.  

Jumping out of the truck, we immediately forgot the drive. Pristine, perfectly-manicured rows of vines cascaded down toward a body of water—it was a breathtaking paradise. We picked up the dirt, we walked a few rows and saw why it’s known as a “mean” site—rugged, steep, unforgiving to farm. But the hard work pays off. We tasted wines off the vines from previous vintages (those were the clinking bottles nestled against Rusty). The wines were structurally stunning. This was undoubtedly the “pay dirt” we had been searching for, and if we wanted the fruit, we had to commit to it that morning. 

We spent the day ironing out the details and ended up at Panchas in Yountville—where most of the valley’s moundsmen go to drink beer after every long day of tending vines. The old familiar saying, “It takes a lot of beer to make great wine,” has never seemed so close to the truth. Our reward, however, is your reward: Cabernet Sauvignon that otherwise may have commanded triple-digit prices. Join us and raise a glass to the Moundsman. 

P.S. 

For you baseball fans out there, we’d be remiss not to leave you with an anecdote about another type of Moundsman—and a tip for the savvy collector. For just a minute, forget about the 100-point wines and think about the 100-mile-an-hour fastballs that have been hurled by some of the world’s great pitching legends.   

Some of you may recall a grinning Tom Seaver, the Mets’ Hall of Fame pitcher, who appeared on the Wine Spectator cover story in November of 2013. The guy with the blazing fastball and knee-buckling curve held a just-picked bunch of 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon. The caption? “2010 California Cabernet: A Classic Vintage for the Cellar.” History likes to rewrite itself. So, while Seaver helped blow the lid off the 2010 growing season, just imagine him back again for the 2016 vintage—same photo, same caption. The 2016s, including today’s 2016 Moundsman? Stockpile them.

• Fruit Intensity
• Oak Intensity
• Body
• Acidity
• Tannin

• ABV 15.20%
• Enjoy right away
• Drink Up
• % Cabernet Sauvignon
• Serving temperature – 60°
• Cork