Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc

We drove up Howell Mountain to get to Cade two Sundays ago. What we witnessed was a horror show of fire damage. It’s hard to see nature destroyed in such a fashion. What was worse were all the brick chimneys only standing where there were once a home or a winery building.

Glass fire note. The fire investigation revealed the fire was started by a Cakebread electric fence short. An additional saddening note is Dolores Cakebread, the co-founder of Cakebread Cellars died shortly after the Glass Fire started. She was 90. No way to know if the stress of the fire factored into her passing.

This is still very young and not ready for my palate. It simply needs another year to resolve and integrate. The 19 in its current form rides the fence of Napa & New Zealand styles of Sauvignon Blanc. The fruits are ripe and tropical but has the grassiness of NZ without the cat pee. Decent. If you own it, give it another year or two.

Photos of; Cade Estate vines, outside patio tasting area, infinity wall and their Estate Cabernet fruit unharvested. Sadly, about 80-85% of the 2020 Napa Valley Cabernet fruit will never see bottling.

Complex aromas, fresh citrus with enticing herbal notes. Pineapple, peach & citrus flavors adding grapefruit, lemon & grassy tones, great acidity balance, rich & smooth, medium finish ending with mineral character. Drink now while it’s fresh.

Complex aromas, fresh citrus with enticing herbal notes. Pineapple, peach & citrus flavors adding grapefruit, lemon & grassy tones, great acidity balance, rich & smooth, medium finish ending with mineral character. Drink now while it’s fresh.

Lime zest curd, green passion fruit,

Extremely underwhelming and dull. Thin and almost watered down as if two ice cubes were left in the glass to melt. No nose to speak of. Crisp and tart on entry and then it just falls off a cliff.

Decent minerality, nose of river rock. Powdery lime rind from a waxed fruit, cucumber spa water, Thai spices.

Finally getting around to posting Day 5 in Napa, our final day. 5 years in a row visiting...hope to make it 6 next year!

First stop was Odette. They pour Cade and Plumpjack wines as they are sister wineries.

This Cade SB was a bit underwhelming, honestly. Grassy and lemon aromatics with a quite tart lime dominant note on the palate. These may be better with a year or two to sit as this seemed really young.

Very peachy and loads of cucumber

Light greenish yellow. Fun nose with notes of grass, citrus - lemon and lime, stone fruits, and melon. Moderate acidity (7/10) and light bodied. Tons of citrus, melon and strong minerality on the palate. Crisp and refreshing, perfect for the beach and seafood. Drink till 2019.

So pretty. Aromas of melon & citrus. Lush & fruity. Stone fruits - apricots maybe? Peaches definitely. Juicy!