Untouched by the clamour for high-octane ripeness and stratospheric scores, Mayacamas remains California’s most un-Californian Cabernet. Slow to evolve and imposingly grand in its prime, the flagship Cabernet Sauvignon’s combination of aromatic power, unique structure and noted longevity has regularly invited comparisons with First Growth Bordeaux—from a great year, we might add! At the same time, the traditional winemaking in concrete and century-old foudre owes more to Piemonte than the Napa cults.
As a young wine, the Cabernet combines astonishing precision, purity and structure with a wild element unique to Mount Veeder Cabernet, once described by Gerald Asher as “a reminder of hedgerow briar rather than the cultivated berry patch”. Nestled above the fog line at a lofty 700 metres on Mount Veeder, the volcanic highland terroir delivers the longest growing season and lowest natural yields of Napa Valley, which, along with the cooler, mountainous climate, results in one of Napa’s most sophisticated and classical Cabernets.
Mayacamas’s 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon was harvested between September 5th and 16th. Fermentation occurred at lower temperatures in a mix of concrete tanks, stainless steel and a few oak puncheons, with an average of 16 days on skins. Winemaker Braiden Albrecht gave the 2020s less time on the skins and used fewer press lots, all shrewd choices given the warm and dry conditions of the year. The wine then aged in Mayacamas’s large, ancient foudres and 500-litre puncheons for 20 months before finishing in 225-litre neutral French barrel for a further 12 months.