Mission Codename On the beat
We scored a true locals-only discovery for you today. A powerful, elegant, perfectly aged Napa Cabernet for well over half off!
This hails from the 2010 vintage (rated 97 points by Vinous) and we have but a handful of cases available. If you’re craving some aged Cabernet or you simply want to experience what Napa is capable of, this is your chance.
Art + Farm, the project behind Circadia, is a small husband-and-wife operation in Napa. 20 years ago in Western Australia, Kat McDonald got the opportunity to work with a craft brewer in Australia. After three years, she returned to the US along with her husband Rob McDonald, and together they founded Old Bridge Cellars. Though they were importing Australian wines at first, they planted some vineyards in both Australia and Napa Valley, leading to the production of their own wines. Then in 2008, Art+Farm was born as a vehicle for their single vineyard wines, outrageous blends, and Circadia: an exploration of varietals in their truest forms.
And this is pure “old school cool” Napa Cab. It still packs a load of fresh, primary dark fruit. Think boysenberries and dusty black cherry, with a touch of black licorice and fennel. But you also get those fantastic tertiary notes of old saddle leather, dried tobacco, and dusty currants. It’s superbly balanced and a must-try for anyone craving some aged Napa Cab to drink in the near term.
On that note, here’s what Antonio Galloni’s Vinous thought of the 2010 Napa harvest they revisited recently: “a fabulous vintage that combines the structure and energy of a cold vintage with the ripeness of a warm year… the wines are utterly brilliant, with deep colors, precise fruit, ripe tannins, and expressive aromatics. The best 2010 Cabernets are full-bodied, flamboyantly ripe, and also tannic. Readers should continue to cellar the 2010s for at least a few years, but preferably even longer.”
Again, not much of this one. Gotta be quick!
What the Winery Says
2010 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
- Winemakers
- Kat & Rob McDonald
- Varietal
- 100% Cabernet Sauvignon
- Vintage
- 2010
- Alcohol
- 14.5%
- Appellation
- Napa Valley
- Total acidity
- 6.1 g/L
- pH
- 3.67
- Aging
- 24 months
- Barrels
- 100% new French oak