Full disclosure: I am a longtime
fan of Frog’s Leap wines. All of
them. Zinfandel, Sauvignon Blanc but
especially Cabernet Sauvignon from estate vineyards on the Rutherford bench in
Napa. Owner-winemaker John Williams was
saved from being a New York dairy farmer when he discovered wine and moved to
California. After learning the basics at
UC Davis, Williams worked at Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars and Spring Mountain
Vineyards. He also learned to appreciate classic Napa Valley Cabernets like
Inglenook and Beaulieu.
Over the years he has acquired
several Rutherford Bench vineyards and
treated them with the respect great vineyards deserve. They are all organic and dry-farmed. When a vine is not irrigated, the roots dig
down deeper in the soil searching for
water and leading to more complex wines.
Irrigation was not common in Napa the 1970s, so the Napa classics that Williams
admired were dry-farmed.
I believe that wine made from
dry-farmed grapes express the terroir, the local dirt. These wines are wines from
a particular place, a particular season. It’s what great wine is all about.
The 2015 Estate grown Cabernet from
the Rutherford AVA is a superb wine. On the palate, the wine is balanced and
elegant with long and deep flavors, rounded with a touch of minerality. A blend
of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc, it hits all the right flavor
points. It’s a wine to linger over with
good friends, good conversation.
John Williams believes it will be
at peak in about ten years. Sorry John,
I can’t wait that long for this superb wine.
