Hi my name is constantin baum i’m a Master of wine and the growing number of You are following me on instagram and You saw that i did a series of seminars On napa valley cabernet sauvignon you Asked me whether i could taste the wines From the seminar together with you here On my channel and i thought that was a Great idea so today i’m going to tell You a little bit more about napa valley And i’m going to taste these six Outstanding wines together with you so Let’s go [Music] When i first came to napa valley i knew That the region stood for quality but i Had a very monolithic viewpoint of what The stylistic expression of the wines From that region are as soon as i Traveled through the valley i realized That this is not true at all and that There are different terroirs in Different parts of the valley the huge Differences between the south and the North the east and the west the mountain Vineyards and the valley floor vineyards And on top of that there are very Different characters working in the napa Valley making different stylistic Choices they might choose to harvest Early or late use new oak or no new oak At all or they might reduce the yield a Lot or a little the valley is shaped by The myokaima mountains to the west which
Also form the border to sonoma and the Wacker ranges to the east it’s 48 Kilometers long and eight kilometers Wide and it only represents four percent Of the total vineyard acreage in California so even though the reputation Of napa is pretty big the production is Fairly small as soon as napa became California’s first american viticultural Area in 1981 people realized that they Have to break it up even further in Order to really understand it today There are 16 different ava’s within the Napa valley ava and we’ll talk about Some of them in further detail while i Talk about the wines the wines represent Six different stylistic expressions from Napa they are all pretty amazing wines But very different in terms of the way They smell and taste i’m really looking Forward to this tasting even though i’ve Tasted the wines quite a few times Already or maybe because i’ve tasted Them quite a few times already i’m Getting out my big bordeaux glass this Is the real performance bordeaux glass Because these wines need a little bit of Space to really show what they got the First one i’m going to taste is the 2017 Louis and martini cabernet sauvignon From napa valley this one is a blend of Roughly 50 mountain fruit and 50 valley Floor fruit napa valley really started On the valley floor most of the big
Wineries were on the valley floor but Today the mountains are becoming more And more important the mountains have a Different growing climate because they Are higher up in altitude they tend to Be a little bit cooler and produce wines That are a bit more structured a bit More tannic and have brighter fruit Flavors this one is also a good Introduction into napa valley because It’s still fairly affordable in germany You can still find it for less than 40 Euros napa valley wines have a high Demand which causes prices to rise on Top of that many wineries don’t own all Of the vineyards where they source their Grapes from so they have to pay the Grape grower for the grapes in order to Make wine from napa valley and this also Adds to the final price of the bottle on The shelf this one is a blend of Different sides but it’s also a blend of Different grape varieties it’s 83 Cabernet sauvignon 11 percent petite Syrah which is a great variety that is Grown quite frequently in california Which produces very concentrated Aromatic dark and structured wines but There’s also a little bit of zinfandel In here and other grape varieties in the Mix the wine is concentrated in rich There are aromas of cassis and Blackberries coming through i also get Notes of cedar wood which are more
Associated with french oak and notes of Chocolate which for me are more Associated with aromas of us oak and They use both types of different oaks in Their blends they use roughly thirty Percent new oak barrels and you can Smell the toasty very aromatic very Notes coming through here on the nose on The palate it’s really rich and Concentrated the tenants are present but There’s also quite a bit of body there There is a good amount of alcohol here i Think We are at 15 alcohol so this is not rare In napa valley that you get once quite a Lot of alcohol but the aqua is really Well integrated so it doesn’t stand out It doesn’t hurt it doesn’t burn the next One is the 2017 matthias and cabernet Sauvignon which is also a napa valley White blend but it’s from a very Different type of winery steve mathiason Was a philosophy student a bike Messenger a hobby gardener and then he Got into sustainable viticulture and Became one of the leading consultants For sustainability and organics in California in the early 2000s he set up His own winery and he’s now working in a Very functional looking warehouse Building he purchases most of his grapes But he also has his own vineyard and he Is very hands-on in the vineyard he Wants to make sure the grapes are grown
In the way that he wants them to be Grown his approach is a little bit Different to what most people in the Napa valley do he harvests very early But he also wants to make sure that the Aroma of the wine is ripe but he is more Towards the red fruit character rather Than the black fruit character so his Wines are very fresh and vibrant and are Very lively so let’s taste it in the Glass you can see that the color is Pretty light for napa valley cabernet Sauvignon it’s more towards the red and Not towards the black the blend is made Up of 95 cabernet sauvignon 3 pt Verdeaux and 2 cabernet franc and the Flavor is very aromatic and lively you Have hardly no influence of the oak on The nose it’s more towards the Strawberry blackberry fruit character a Little bit of raspberry as well it’s Very precise very fruity very fresh he Blends fruit from three different ava’s Oatmeal and coomsville in the south Which are producing much more fresh and Vibrant wines because it’s much more Cool in the south in napa valley and Rutherford in the north which produces More concentrated and rich flavors the Main reason why the vineyards in the South of napa valley are cooler than the Vineyards in the north is the fog the Fog rolls up from the south to the north In napa valley and this fork really
Influences the microclimate in the Vineyard quite significantly it cools Down the temperatures and keeps the Morning freshness in the vineyards on Top of that it also shields the vines From sunlight so you have slower Ripening in vineyards that are touched By the fork As compared to vineyards that have less Impact of the fork this one is super Interesting because it shows you how Important harvest date is for wine Making in the upper valley this one is Fresh and vibrant it has 13 of alcohol Which is pretty low and it doesn’t punch You in the nose but it keeps you Entertained during the whole evening so It’s definitely something worth seeking Out and tasting the next one is the 2017 Robert mondavi oakville cabernet Sauvignon you can’t really tell the Story of napa valley without talking About robert mondavi he set up his own Winery there in 1966 When the region was on its knees and he Really had a big vision of how to get People interested in wine he was one of The first to open the doors of the Winery host events and get people Into the winery into the vineyards to Really get them interested in wine so This wine is from one of the most famous Vineyards in california the toca lon Vineyard which means
The beautiful in greek tokelan was Planted in the 1860s by henry w crabb And used the vineyard as an experimental Vineyard to try out different varieties And he already back then realized that Cabernet sauvignon grows really well in The nupper valley this is a blend of Cabernet sauvignon cabernet fran mellow Petit verdo malbec so the traditional Bordeaux varietals and it’s a very Concentrated and rich wine with lots of Oak influence but also quite a lot of Concentration and fruit intensity all of The fruit for this wine comes from Oakville and oakville is in the middle Of the napa valley on the valley floor And it produces quite concentrated wine And you can certainly sense the Concentration and the voluptuousness in This wine as well when i was in napa Valley for the first time i was part of A group and the bigger group was split Up into smaller groups one evening and i Was on the kathy corazon group i didn’t Really know what that meant but we went Out for dinner with kathy And i was really impressed by her and Soon realized that she is super famous And i was just ignorant she got to work For many important wineries but her main Goal was to set up her own winery and She told me the story of how she found Her winery she actually sent out her Husband to find the right plot even back
Then in the late 80s early 90s it was Very difficult to buy a winery napa it’s Pretty much impossible today unless You’re a billionaire but back then it Was still kind of possible and her Husband found this plot of land that Looked really terrible it was planted to Vines but the vines were on axr 1 Rootstocks which were rootstocks that Were giving in to phylloxera so she Thought she might have to pull them all Out and replant the vineyard and the Building on the plot was also in very Sorry state so she decided to put in an Offer but for bear land and she got the Plot and then realized that the vines Were not planted on xr1 but an on old Saint george rootstock which is a very Good rootstock and they also managed to Keep the barn and convert it into a Winery so she was really really lucky The wine smells of black currants Blackberries you also have some Spiciness from the oak coming through But she only uses roughly 50 new oaks so She doesn’t want this very strong Chocolaty flavor she wants to have the Fruit flavor in the foreground on the Palette it’s structured and intense with Lots of freshness and vibrancy so this Is a very balanced wine and still pretty Young 2018 was a really really good Vintage and this will keep for quite a Few more years if you go by climate
Alone ones from centalina which is Further to the north and therefore Warmer should be more concentrated than Mines from oakville where the robert Mondavi wine came from but here you can Also see that the influence of the Winemaker is quite important the Decision on picking dates and Concentration of the grapes is really Really crucial when it comes to the Stylistic expression of the wine itself The next one the 2014 staxley boyne Sellers fey vineyard was important for California for two reasons it was a wine From this vineyard which was established By nathan fey in 1961 that inspired Warren munozki to set up his winery in Stag sleep wine district it was the wine From sexy wine cellars that won the Judgment of paris tasting in 1976 This was a tasting set up by a french Wine merchant based in paris he invited Lots of people from the french wine Industry to blind taste the best wines From france against the best wines from California after the tasting concluded It was revealed that in both categories In the white and the red wine category a Wine from california won which shocked All of the judges who had blind tasted The wines thinking that the french wines Will win the story went viral and was All over the news and it really changed The perception of wines from california
In the whole world the fake vineyard is Almost entirely planted to cabernet Sauvignon with a little bit of cabernet Franc as well but this wine is 100 Cabernet sauvignon this is 2014 but it Feels really young i think it’s very Fresh and vibrant still got lots of Flavors of cassis there’s blackberry There there’s also a little bit of plum Flavor coming through so it’s ripe and Concentrated even though there’s quite a Lot of new oak used in this one you Don’t really feel the oak as much Anymore it’s kind of melted away and Into the wine this is really big and Concentrated with ripe and very grippy Tannins definitely a wine that is still Very young the last one in the tasting Is another classic the 2014 maya camus Cabernet sauvignon from mount veda this Is from the maya k-mers range so it’s a Mountain cabernet sauvignon and mountain Cabinets tend to be a little bit more Structured a little bit more fresh the Name mayakemas means howl of the Mountain lion and you can see the Mountain lion in the m on the label a Big difference between the valley floor And the mountain vineyards is also the Vegetation on the valley floor it’s Pretty much a monu culture with Vineyards everywhere whereas in the Mountains you have small pockets or Vineyards in forests or between cliffs
And forests and manuals mayakemus is Also known for producing really classic Quite elegant wine but let’s taste this First on the nose it’s beautiful elegant And fruit driven you have red currant Flavors strawberry flavors and sherry Flavors coming through on the palette Tannins are grippy and there’s lots of Freshness and it’s very vibrant and Fresh it has 13 of alcohol just like the Thighs that i tasted earlier in this Tasting but it feels much more profound And concentrated this is a beautiful Wine it’s not super cheap it costs 130 Euros a bottle just like the fey Vignette but it’s definitely worth it i Mean this is a real classic this was a Great tasting it was very nice to taste These wines all by myself and quiet Without an audience that i had to keep Entertained in summary i would say that There’s lots of diversity coming out of Napa valley and it’s really not that Easy to wrap your head around all of the Different wine styles coming out of this Small region my two favorites today were The corazon and the mayakemus two Elegant and beautiful beautiful wines But if you’re looking for something more Affordable the louis and martini is Definitely a great wine the matthias is Something for you if you want something Really fresh and totally different to What you would expect from napa the
Oakville cabernet sauvignon is actually Pretty classic for nappa and is Something that is great if you have a Really aromatic steak i think the stack Sleep fee vineyard is definitely Something to put away for a few decades But it’s beautiful beautiful wine if you Like something a little bit more big i Hope you enjoyed this video if you liked It then please like it down here Subscribe to my channel if you haven’t Done so already my question of the day Has to be which is your favorite napa Valley cabernet sauvignon let me know Down below i hope i see you guys again Soon until then stay thirsty [Music] You