2021 Lokoya Spring Mountain District Cabernet Sauvignon

The Lokoya Spring Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon is primarily sourced from their estate-owned 10ha Yverdon vineyard at 640m and the 18ha Wurtele vineyard at around 304m. The soils are mostly ocean-bottom sedimentary. What strikes you immediately is the minerality and earthiness in the bouquet, which is super expressive of gravely and loamy soils and with bright and focused black cherry and blueberry fruit notes. A stealthy dose of brisk and firm mineral-laced mountain tannins sneaks up, framed by intensely perfumed rose petal notes and underscored by refreshing blood orange acidity. You can't believe the freshness until it presents in juicy waves through an extended, full-bodied finish. Chris Carpenter makes the Lokoya wines, and the label is owned by the Jackson Family. Four 100% Cabernet Sauvignon wines are in the portfolio, each from a different mountain: Diamond Mountain, Howell Mountain, Spring Mountain, and Mt. Veeder. The winemaking is the same for all the wines, with mostly native yeast fermentation, pump-overs by hand, malolactic fermentation in barrel, and ageing for 22 months in 90% new French oak. What separates these wines is not style but place. Carpenter believes that fine Napa Valley Cabernet wines are not only defined by the soils of their sites but also by the Bay Area Pacific breezes that roll in and out daily, cooling the valley from the south to the north in the evenings and from the north to the south in the mornings. (JC)