The ‘father & son’ part doesn’t need explaining if you know cab, and this is a streamlined, intensely-focused wine showing clarity and restraint, incredibly reminiscent of BDX. One of those incredibly complex but almost *thin* wines: a texture definitely causing winebro’s brow to furrow–something which happens when people addled on jam, syrup and wood taste things like Togni or Corison–at least from my experience. Labels like this will never get the instagram clicks or make the cool-kid’s bottle line-ups, but to me they are the true gems of California wine.
Also, it’s Alexander Valley, which almost automatically tells you the energy is going to be spent on wiry, acidic and structural detail–not on fleshy, hi-pH offerings to the Napa gods. Transparent medium-ruby, still edged in bluish pink at 8. I should add also: if you grabbed this for the vintage, you’re going to be disappointed AGAIN: as wineries like this don’t flex with the 98RP/VINTAGE OF THE DECADE bullshit selling Wine Spectator subscriptions and fueling wine-writer’s blithering drool-fests on terroir manifestation. This is just flat-out good cab–it just *happens* to be a 2013. Solid berry–coated with watery dark ripeness–invades the nose, steely petrichor and sharp briary vegetal touching down lightly around the edges. A Luxardo maraschino lurks at the core, but held aloft with spicy fragrance, diesel & dust reflect volcanic machinations tinged in redwood and madrone.
In the mouth: more watery coolness, as subliminal movements of berry and pure cab beauty gently evolve on the palate. Gorgeous floral–lilac and rose-hip–wrestles with invading tannin and citrus minerality laying an earthy shrill bed on which the jam-packed but slowly-evolving cherry can be displayed. So light and delicate in areas–so powerful in others: this is REALLY geeky cab.
2013 TERRAGENA ‘Father & Son Blend’ CF/cab 54/46 Holden-Mapley Vyd Alexander Valley 12.7
Stephen McConnell 