2013 Chad Cabernet Sauvignon Mt. Veeder (Lot 2) 750 ml

Chad Goes to Town: Antonio Galloni’s “Modern-Day Classic”

The Wine Advocate suggested that Napa Valley’s 2013 vintage may well turn out to be the “greatest in 37 years.” Antonio Galloni, Robert Parker’s hand-picked successor, was equally emphatic in a vintage report entitled “2013 – A Modern-Day Classic.”

Galloni wrote: “The second year in the current drought cycle and precocious growing season produced powerful, inky wines with huge fruit, massive tannins and, most importantly, extraordinary pedigree. I expect the wines to evolve at a glacial pace.”

But as Chad told us over bacon and eggs at the Grill at Meadowood on the rainy morning of January 3rd, 2013 wasn’t simply extraordinary for quality, but also for quantity. The second consecutive abundant harvest caught many mountain wineries by surprise — including one of the greatest names on Mt. Veeder.

Despite the meteoric success of CHAD, our winemaker buddy has rarely been inclined to toot his own horn. When he brought us the 2012 Private Reserve, purchased from a winery on Pritchard Hill that would go on to earn 100 points from Robert Parker, Chad said “OK, so I got lucky.” When he locked into 200 cases of a voluptuous 2007 Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon — a wine that left Parker speechless, earning 97 points — the 42 year-old redhead said he “stumbled on the opportunity … more or less by accident.”

But in the case of the 2013 vintage on the winemaker’s old stomping grounds on Mt. Veeder, Chad couldn’t help himself. “It was a perfect storm. I went out early, understanding the mountain economics. What can I say? I nailed it.”

Here’s how … and why.

The 2012 vintage, as you may recall, was a blessing for Napa Valley growers. After four consecutive short years, the harvest of 2012 was both excellent and bountiful. Anxious to repair tattered balance sheets, wineries held on to every cluster, exhausting the capacity of every tank and barrel they could buy and hold.

In the summer of 2013, when we met Chad at the the Napa Valley Coffee Roasting Company in St. Helena, our friend laid out the plan that would pay mammoth dividends two years later.

“If the weather holds up, 2013 will be better and perhaps even bigger than 2013!” Chad began. “Yields could be double 2011. I know every cellar on Mt. Veeder. I know how much they process and how much they can hold. We still have to get through the next three months without incident, but if we do, I’M GOING TO TOWN!”

From mid-July to mid-September, barely a drop of rain fell on Mt. Veeder. The call to harvest was made under ideal conditions. Mild days, cool nights. Turquoise skies. Typical yields at the top estates on the mountain are 2 tons per acre; the September harvest of 2013 netted nearly 4. One of Mt. Veeder’s greatest winemakers found himself with far more terrific 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon than he could possibly bottle. There were two lots — one more supple and forward, the second deep, darker, and more muscular. His first call went to Chad. He wouldn’t need to make another.

The 2013 CHAD Cabernet Sauvignon Mt. Veeder (Lot 2) is saturated purple-black to the rim. Broad and dense aromatically, infused with tightly wound aromas of crushed blackberry and black raspberry, violets, smoke, and graphite. Voluptuous, truly HUGE on the attack, filled with black-fruit preserves, tobacco, black currant, and sweet spice, finishing with dusty tannins and sturdy mountain backbone. Drink now — if you must — or do as the critics suggest and lay this powerhouse down until the late 2020s!

Under the winery’s label: $85/bottle. $27 this morning under CHAD. You make the call.