2012 Brandlin Cabernet Sauvignon Mt. Veeder 750 ml

2012 Brandlin Vineyard Mt. Veeder … Wine Spectator’s #1 Under-$50

As has been the case for the last 30 years, Robert Parker’s vintage report set the tone. In a story entitled “Napa’s Cup Runneth Over,” the one-time attorney from Monkton, Maryland, went on an adjectival tear, suggesting that 2012 will go down as one of the most extraordinary vintages in Napa Valley history.

The Wine Advocate wrote:

"Grapes, much like people, mature and flourish under ideal conditions, and both vintages provided that. Interestingly, virtually all of the producers said that in 2012 the results tended to produce wines that are far more classic California in style, with exuberant, boisterous, even flamboyant personalities, sweet, well-integrated tannins, intense fruit extract, and relatively high alcohols ranging from 14.5 to 16- plus percent. It is nearly impossible to find a 2012 that is not showing well, and I say that having tasted most of these wines when they had either just been bottled or were just approaching bottling. It is a gloriously ostentatious, charming, rich, well-balanced vintage that will drink well young yet, certainly in the best cases, have 20-30 years of longevity ahead of it. In many stylistic respects, 2012 does indeed resemble 2002."

Parker went on to publish a bevy of 98- to 100-point reviews, sending prices soaring. By the time the dust settled, nearly 300 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignons would be released at over $100/bottle. Despite the rampant inflation for the highly rated wines, particularly those grown in the most sought-after AVAs — Howell Mountain, Mt. Veeder, Stag’s Leap, Oakville, and Rutherford — stocks vanished from cellars in a heartbeat. FINALLY … here’s one that didn’t get away.

In the early 1870s, the Brandlin family settled on the steep, rocky slopes of Mount Veeder. Fifty years later, in 1926, Henry Brandlin planted vines on a mountain ridgeline in the southern Mayacamas Range. As Henry would soon learn, these well-draining soils, consisting of schisty, gravelly loam on shale, were ideal for Bordeaux varieties, particularly for broad-shouldered, late-maturing Cabernet Sauvignon.

Eighty-six years after that initial planting, Nature treated Brandlin Ranch to a growing season for the ages. A warm spring made for a copious fruit set. Beginning on June 1st and for the three months that followed, not a drop of rain fell on the Mayacamas. Still, despite the arid conditions, as Mr. Parker explained, temperatures remained mild. Winemaker Steve Rogstad made the call to harvest in mid-September. The vineyard crew harvested at their leisure under turquoise skies, making multiple passes, picking each row at magical maturity. Clusters were larger than the norm. Berries were unusually juicy. Still, mountain acids and tannins remained firm.

The 2012 Brandlin Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Mount Veeder is what this fabulous vintage is all about. Opaque purple. Explosive aromas of mountain blueberry, boysenberry, black cherry, dark plum, and violets, framed by new-wood cedar. Rich, velour-like in texture, packed with crushed-black-fruit jam, at once dense and fabulously juicy, finishing with sturdy mountain backbone and arguing powerfully for a one- to two-DECADE stay in a cool cellar. (77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Malbec, 9% Cabernet Franc and 5% Petit Verdot).

92 points from Wine Spectator, the highest rating for any 2012 mountain Cabernet Sauvignon under-$50/bottle. Shipping included on 4.