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2016 Sterling Vineyards Yates Family Vineyard Mount Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon

2016 Sterling Vineyards Yates Family Vineyard Mount Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon

Sterling Vineyards

2016 Sterling Vineyards Yates Family Vineyard Mount Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon

Tasting Notes

Tasting Note

Mt. Veeder is known for producing fruit with intense tannins that result in age-worthy wines of distinction. Brighter red fruit led by wild mountain raspberry, bright cherry and darker fruits including blackberry are framed with oak spice, vanilla and caramel from the new oak. Wild yet refined, the grippy tannins give way to a wine with great structure and balance, solid acidity and a vibrant finish that lingers. This will continue to evolve and reveal itself over the next decade.

Technical Information

Varietal Cabernet Sauvignon
Vintage 2016
Appellation Napa Valley
Blend 100% Cabernet Sauvignon
Oak Treatment 18 months 100% French Oak
Alcohol % 14.8%
Enclosure Type Cork
pH 3.76

Scores & Accolades

  • 97

    JamesSuckling.com

    #56 in Top 100 Wines of 2020

    "This is really great. Classic Napa cabernet with blackberries, currants, redwood, mushrooms and wet earth. Real mountain cabernet. Full-bodied, tight and framed. A beauty. Needs two or three years to open. Tiny production." - James Suckling, February 2020

  • 95

    Wine Advocate

    "Made of 100% Cabernet Sauvignon aged 19 months in 80% new French oak, the deep garnet-purple colored 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Yates Vineyard has a beautifully fragrant nose of violets and chocolate mint over a core of warm cassis, blackberry compote, dusty soil, tobacco and sandalwood. The palate is medium to full-bodied, firm and solidly structured with ripe, grainy tannins supporting the perfumed layers, finishing long." - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, October 2018

  • 95

    Wine Advocate

    "The 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Yates Vineyard is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon. Deep garnet-purple in color, it offers up intense scents of crushed black currants, ripe black plums and boysenberries with touches of cigar box, camphor, yeast extract, tapenade and charcuterie. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is an exercise in poise, with beautifully balanced, plush tannins and seamless freshness supporting the intense fruit, finishing long and layered. 250 cases were made.” - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, August 13th, 2020

Winemaking

Winemaking

Fruit was hand-harvested and hand-sorted before final sorting in an optical sorter, selecting only the highest quality fruit for fermentation in a combination of concrete and stainless vessels. The concrete tanks, relatively new to the winery, offered a significant purity of expression. Fruit was allowed to ferment for up to 15 days with regular pump-overs to extract deep color and rich flavors. The wine was then gently pressed, racked and aged for 18 months in 100% new French oak from COF toasted medium/medium plus from a mix of coopers including Gamba, Remond, Taransaud, Allary and Quintessence.

Harry Hansen - Winemaker

Director of Winemaking Harry Hansen was raised in nearby Sonoma County. “One of my earliest memories of wine was the gallon jug of red wine that we always had at home. I would go with my father to a local winery, maybe in Kenwood or Healdsburg, to refill that jug and chit-chat with the winery proprietors. The aromas of those wines were always something attractive, somehow mysterious, but always memorable.”
Harry joined Sterling Vineyards and relocated to Napa Valley just before the 2011 Harvest. “The opportunity to join such a respected Napa Valley winery is exciting and a fantastic next step in my winemaking career. Sterling Vineyards is making some wonderful wines, and I look forward to taking that next step up in quality and reputation.”

Vintage

Vintage

Winter rains helped signal the end of the immediate drought, but vineyards had grown stressed after multiple challenging years, resulting in modest yields for the season. A dry January was followed by a wet February, and temperatures remained mild, encouraging an early bud break to begin the growing season. Showers arrived in April, slowing the rapid advance of flowering and set. Early by historical standards, after harvest began picks moved at a leisurely pace as winemakers waited for ever more complex flavors to develop. The extended season helped balance acids and allowed layers of flavors to emerge.

Vineyard

Mount Veeder AVA

Mount Veeder

Vineyard

The Yates Family vineyard is found moderately high, just above the town of Napa, planted at an elevation of 1,100 feet. Mt. Veeder is one of Napa's most unique AVAs, the southernmost and coolest growing region, known for an extended growing season and volcanic soils with a variety of micro climates. The vineyard is found at the end of Redwood Road, near the Archer Taylor Preserve managed by the Land Trust of Napa Valley. Vineyards were first planted here in the 1860s.

Winemaker Harry Hansen

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