This one’s for you Jeanine!

We heard yours, and many others’ demands loud and clear. MORE REVIVAL!!

Well, today’s the day, and this time we sheared an even fatter $70 right off the price. Straight from the winery library, aged to PERFECTION and primed for enjoyment. Ohhh yes.

2009, by the way, is up there with the best. Napa Cab authority Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate recently revisited the vintage, raving that it was “an outstanding year for Napa Valley Cabernets… very excited about the slow, graceful development displayed by many of the wines. And “graceful” is also a good word to describe the style of the vintage… beautifully plush tannins at moderate alcohol levels, well-balanced acidity and a wide array of perfumed aroma/flavor compounds.”

Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW added in her notes that “In terms of drinking windows, I have updated these for all the 2009s I tasted. In many cases, I added a decade or more onto the previous estimates. Given the sturdy, ripe structures and lingering primary fruit apparent in many of the best wines, I’m confident that a lot of the 2009s still have fantastic cellaring potential and should give a lot of joy for many years to come. Enjoy!”

And enjoy we did, IMMENSELY.

The aromatics alone will bring you to your knees with the abundant cherry pie, sweet clove, leather, and graphite notes. It approaches the style you’d find in high-end cult wines like Realm or Carter but dials it back a notch or two, fitting closer to a Larkmead or classic Insignia. With a few more years of age, this brings an uber polished, soft, sultry style. Packed with red and black fruit mixes upfront, with raspberry, black cherry, wild Maine blueberries, and blackberry jam dominating. And then we hit all kinds of secondary notes of gravel, cocoa powder, licorice, and spice as it carries into a slobberingly long finish.

Revival is a tiny project by Napa natives Sean & Lindsay Garvey. Sean is the Vineyard Manager at Flora Springs, and Lindsay grew up at her family’s Buehler Vineyards. Before we dive in, you need to hear about the unique winemaking techniques led by Enrico Bertoz. He made wine at Sine Qua Non and Joseph Phelps before settling at Flora Springs. What a resume!

Wine nerds too will love this. Here’s how it goes down.

The magic starts with fruit from two rows in the Kairos Vineyard just south of Stags Leap District on a western-facing hillside. After hand-sorting everything they pack a 100% new French Oak barrel with whole berries intact, leaving just enough room for the fermentation to occur, pump overs, punch downs, and all inside the barrel! They then deconstruct the barrel, press the wine, and reconstruct it, to let it age for “revival” in two more years.

Revival says their approach is “not for the faint of heart”. No kidding! This insanely meticulous, unique artisanal approach yields a masterclass in texture with silky soft, long tannins, exceptional richness, and superb balance.

If high-scoring, rip-roaring, ultra-polished, Napa Cabernet speaks to your soul (honestly, if it doesn’t, you’re probably on the wrong website) this is a must-have. If you got lucky with some of that 2012 Revival you already know what’s up.

No doubt this one will be a fast mover again so fair warning.