A wine that can be traced back to our earliest days making wine together, La Magdalena is a blend of equal parts Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon from the renowned Oakville Ranch, high in the eastern hills of Napa Valley’s most famous appellation. Organically farming with intention, harvesting at optimum ripeness, and carefully shepherding the wines through fermentation and maceration, yields a wine with remarkable depth, a silky texture, and eye-opening complexity. The dance of these two varieties together is what excites us most about making wine in the Napa Valley.

The 2021 growing season fell in the middle of a multi-year drought in California. With very little winter and spring rain, the vines worked hard to develop canopies and, in the end, set a relatively small crop. Luckily, summer temperatures were relatively mild, with only a couple of days with peak temperatures over 100 degrees Fahrenheit. This meant that the fruit was able to mature slowly, and fruit quality at harvest was balanced and concentrated. In fact, the ample sun exposure of the fruit led to remarkable phenolic development, with the grapes at harvest having a very dark color and highly structured tannins. The harvest arrived relatively early, and at Favia, we were harvesting our Oakville fruit beginning on September 7. The mild temperatures allowed us to continue harvesting methodically for over a month. This long harvest gave u s a broad spectrum of blending components with which to craft our 2021 wines. Across the board, the 2021 wines from Favia show great depth, pleasant natural acidity, and strong varietal expression. The vintage shows all the power and richness expected from Napa Valley, and with a tannic backbone that will allow the wines to age for decades to come.

2021 was a dry but mild year. The vines set quite a modest crop in terms of quantity, but the depth and intensity of the fruit were remarkable. This made for a vivid expression of both these varieties, grown in one of the best terroirs in the world. These red volcanic soils consistently give the wines a sense of strength, with dark fruit character and also notes of loam, underbrush, and exotic spices. This vintage of L a Magdalena i s dialed u p in terms of aromatics, structure, and concentration. The dense blackberry and currant aromas and flavors are enhanced by hints of licorice, orange blossom, and garrigue. It’s firm but accessible in its youth and will certainly evolve with time in the cellar.