2012 Parallel Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 750 ml

100-point Philippe Melka Up Howell Mtn. Road

In March 2015, we assembled a lineup of over 100 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignons from the challenging 2011 vintage. We called that tasting “The NYC Marathon.” Of the wines tasted, roughly half proved to be too lean and angular for WineAccess consideration. At the end of the day, just 15 merited a cameo on WineAccess.

We contacted each of those 15 wineries in the following week, looking to negotiate deep discounts on a vintage that was sandwiched between Parker’s “epic” 2010 and the monumental 2012. Eight agreed to our terms, including the #2 wine of the Marathon, the 2011 Parallel Cabernet Sauvignon crafted by Flying Winemaker Philippe Melka.

In the story published on March 17th, we spoke of the vineyard source a third of the way up Howell Mountain and of Melka’s resume, including several 100-point masterpieces at Bryant Family and Dana Estate. That missive struck a chord. Every bottle of the 2011 Parallel disappeared in a flash.

Still, there was one part of that 2011 story that we chose not to include. While the negative vintage press had made the 2011 Parallel difficult to sell, Melka’s 2012 had already received a rave review from Robert Parker. The entire production, we were told, was allocated months before release at $78/bottle. Before committing to the 2011, we went for the jugular, insisting that Parallel set aside 56 cases of the 2012 under the same terms.

We’d like to say that the rest of this story went off without a hitch, that we weren’t obliged to dig up the early-March email thread in which this agreement was consummated. We’d like to say that there was no hemming, little hawing — no sign whatsoever of the selective amnesia that’s plagued so many Napa Valley wineries since the release of the phenomenal 2012s. But, of course, that would have been too easy.

The 2012 Parallel Cabernet Sauvignon is pure Melka, a vintage masterpiece drawn off the poor volcanic soils a third of the way up Howell Mountain Road. Opaque purple in color. Voluptuous aromatically, featuring a lavish mix of crushed blackberry, violets, graphite, and tobacco, framed by new-wood cedar. Gorgeous on the attack, showing superb fruit purity and precision. Packed with black fruit preserves, sweet crème de cassis, black raspberry, and blueberry. This is a big, bold 2012 that’s drinking beautifully on release but, as Parker suggests, will continue to age gracefully over the next 15-20 years.

$78 on release. $43 this morning — 45% off — after, at least temporarily, curing another case of selective amnesia on the Silverado Trail. Shipping included on 4.