| Producer | Hill Family |
| Country | United States |
| Region | California |
| Subregion | Napa Valley |
| Varietal | Cabernet Sauvignon |
| Vintage | 2021 |
| Sku | 15738 |
| Size | 750ml |
The 2021 Hill Family Estate Napa Cabernet Sauvignon is a gorgeous red that comes from a combination of vineyard sites farmed by the Hill Family. They only keep about 5% of the best of their fruit for their family winery and their Cabs have been some of our favorites for years. Anyone who has been keeping up with Napa Valley wine knows that the 2021 vintage is turning out to be an exceptional one!
The Hill Family Estate is a family operation run by a 3rd-generation of farmers. The Hill family has been growing grapes in Napa since the early '80s selling their fruit to some of the top wineries in the valley. In the early 2000s, they decided to take a tiny portion of their fruit and start to make wine under their own family label. Their winemaker is Alison Doran who came on as winemaker for their inaugural 2001 vintage. Alison had been making the extraordinary wines at Lewis Cellars which brought her to the attention of owner Doug Hill. She is also the winemaker for Levendi Winery and Hoot Owl wines, which are some other Meritage Wine Market favorites! The combination of muscular, black-fruited, graphite-tinged power from the higher elevation sites mixed with the fleshy, fruit-forward silky ease of the valley floor strikes that perfect balance that makes for a Cab that drinks great now but will also age for years. In the warm 2021 vintage, this combination made for a spectacular success! This wine was aged for about 20 months in 26% new oak nearly all of which is French.
The 2021 Hill Family Estate Cabernet Sauvignon is a beautiful ruby-black color in the glass. The nose jumps right out with an incredibly explosive array of blackberries macerated with kirsch, dark cherry layered with shaved chocolate, sage-tinged forest floor, cigar-box tones, and a perfect kiss of vanilla oak. The wine is purely intense with vivid red and blue fruits dancing with darker berry and chocolate tones that way over-deliver. This wine is delicious and utterly surprising, with silky tannins that are as ripe and supple as anyone could ask for but give this wine a muscular and gorgeously dense character from start to the long finish.
The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon stands out for its superb value. A blend of Atlas Peak and valley-floor fruit, it offers up scents of cassis, pencil shavings and blackberries on the nose, while the medium to full-bodied palate is rich, supple and concentrated, finishing long, tannic and a bit chewy but ripe. If popping a cork soon, pair it with rare red meat to help tame the youthful tannins, but don't think that it has to be cellared.
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