We have another incredible wine from Ed Sbragia, today! This time around, we have his GrapeSeed Wines 2012 “Permanence” Mt. Veeder Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. Ed’s wines never fail to impress, and its no wonder… He’s been making some of the world’s most prized wines for more than 3 decades.

As one would expect from a mountain Napa Cab, the wine in the glass is a dark, dense, garnet with a thin maroon lip. Beneath an enticing layer of dusty bramble, there’s opulent cigar box, leather, pipe tobacco, plum compote, and allspice aromas. Flavors turn darker with black fruit twists of black plum, black cherry, rhubarb with espresso, and dark chocolate flavors to compliment a slate minerality. It has a solid mouthfeel with structured tannin that coats your tongue like a snug blanket, providing an intricate scaffolding for the rich fruit flavor. We’d recommend a well-seared blackened steak to complement the robust flavors of this terrific Cab.

Winemaker Ed Sbragia, who made wines at Beringer Winery for 32 years, now focuses the majority of his attention on his namesake Sbragia Family Vineyards and other boutique projects, like today’s GrapeSeed Wines label. He’s currently doing the finest work of his life! Today’s wine is one of the very finest that we’ve tasted from this grand man of winemaking.

Mt. Veeder, located on the eastern slopes of the Mayacamas range has a climate that is cooler than the valley floor below. This climate and the more difficult (less fertile) volcanic mountain soil influence the flavors of the wines from this region. Most known for both Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon, Mt. Veeder is known for producing grapes of exceptional character and bold intensity.

Winemaker Ed Sbragia said, “It’s no secret that we love mountain Cabernet Sauvignon and year after year the fruit from Mt. Veeder justifies my passion. There’s an intensity and concentration to the grapes that practically jumps out of the crusher, and with careful handling, this intensity translates to a wine of enormous depth and richness.”