I love the wines from the mountains that parallel – and hence form – Napa Valley. They bear a saline, earthy, dark-berried quality that fascinates me to no end. I now have been following Mount Vedeer Winery’s wines for at least 12 years, and not yet has one disappointed me, whatever the style of the vintage. At $90 a bottle, this bottling is far from inexpensive. However, it is easy to invest in Napa at $50 thinking you’ll get a drinkable wine or two out of a Franklin and end up with what better resembles two pots of jam. Year in and year out, I’ll happily place my money on the table for any bottle from Mount Vedeer Winery.

93
Mount Vedeer Winery 2012 Reserve 14.5%
This Napa Valley “mountain wine” is composed of 91% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Merlot, 2% Petit Verdot and 2% Malbec. It’s always a polished, classy, aromatic and integrated wine. This one in particular smells of boysenberries, blueberry preserves, damp cigar, Douglas fir and dark chocolate. Its tannins are silky and its acidity is smartly supporting yet sublimely out of the limelight.
Drink: 2015-20

Curious about Napa Mountain Wines? Check out my Special Report.