2015 Spring Mountain Vineyard Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

The full story of Spring Mountain Vineyard is too long and complex for this staff review but let me condense it as best I can. The estate as it stands today started as three separate properties first established in 1873. It was the first Cabernet Sauvignon to be planted on Spring Mountain. In 1882 the second piece of the estate was planted by the Beringer Brothers. In 1891 the third section was established by a French immigrant named, Fortune Chevalier. The estate today is comprised of 135 individual blocks with over 1000ft in elevation change. The property is very steep with an average slope of 25-30%. The wines of Spring Mountain Vineyard hold a very special place in our hearts at K&L. We have sold these wines for many decades. In fact one of the first wines we ever promoted by email blast in the late 1990's was Spring Mountain Vineyard Cabernet! When aged bottles show up in our Old & Rare department, staff race to buy them! A few years back a bottle of the legendary 1976 vintage showed up in our bin-end close-out section with a fill that was barely up to the low shoulder...even with that low ullage it turned out to be the best wine of the night, still packed with black and blue fruit, tobacco, cedar and leather. The 2015 release is an absolute classic Spring Mountain Vineyard expression. Dark fruits laced with pencil shavings, dried tobacco, crushed rocks. There are big, structural tannins wrapped in the currant and cassis fruit. Facing east, the shaded afternoon aspect of the site has preserved those evermore illusive varietal characters in Cabernet; this wine harks back to a more Bordeaux inspired style, it eschews over ripeness and is all the more compelling for it. A wine of true pedigree and class. A wine that represents one of the finest values in modern day Napa. Drink now or over the next 20+ years.