It was a special spot, unlike any we’d seen in the Napa mountain vineyards. Tucked into the southwestern corner of Mount Veeder at about 1300 feet in elevation with breathtaking views of the Golden Gate Bridge and the San Francisco Bay. We had tasted the Napa Redwoods Cabernet with a winemaker friend at Tra Vigne (the great Italian Trattoria in St. Helena) the night before. The 2004 started out hard and unforgiving without the feminine opulence of some of the Mount Veeder locales. By the end of the main course, the wine started to come on, slowly shedding its firm cloak, giving us a hint of what was underneath. We corked the bottle and took it back to our room at Meadowood where we were tempted to continue studying this unusual mountain Cabernet. But we’d seen wines like this before — and decided to leave it alone for the night. We left the last third of the bottle uncorked on the counter.

At lunch the next day, we brought the unfinished bottle of 2004 Napa Redwoods Cabernet Sauvignon and shared it with a Napa winemaker friend. Our patience had paid huge dividends. The tannic structure had given way to a beautifully honed core of deep blackberry fruit — ripe Cabernet’s ‘iron fist.’ The only thing wrong with the wine on day two was that there wasn’t enough left to nurse it through the whole meal. We asked our friend why this Mt. Veeder Cabernet was so muscular and ageworthy while others had delicious feminine opulence without the cellaring capacity. He suggested that the best way to understand the Yates vineyard, first discovered by a German immigrant on steep mountain slopes in the late 1880s, was to ‘go up there and check it out for yourselves, it’ll blow you away.’ So we did.

When you reach the top of the mountain road where the Yates Vineyard sits, you immediately understand that this is a different look at the Mount Veeder appellation. Just 35 acres of the Yates family’s magnificent 275 acre ranch are planted to vines, most on steep terraces facing south and southwest. Four-hundred-year-old redwoods bracket the property. When we got to the top and looked southwest, we saw the Golden Gate bridge 60 miles away. The fog would shroud the vineyard in the morning hours, then the cool, drying wind would pick up in midday. The wine began to make sense. This vineyard was a rare blend of the cool climate characteristics of Carneros with the bright sun and heat of the Napa mountains. No wonder the wine tasted like it would age gracefully for a decade or two.

Harvested almost a month later than other sites on Mount Veeder, with yields of less than two tons per acre (!), this Cabernet is a find, a wine for lovers of muscular Napa Cabernet or for experienced buyers of Pauillac. Again, patience is the buyer’s friend. You can open this 2004 now, decant it in the afternoon, then serve it with hearty fare at dinner. Even better, try a bottle to gain a better understanding of the wine’s superb structure, then lay the others down. If you do so, you will be treating yourselves to some pleasant evenings in years to come from the Yates Family’s magical vineyard.

Tasting Notes
“Deep purple color to the edge. Aromas of black fruit and tobacco. At first: closed and powerful on the palate, but somewhat unyielding, slowly opening with air. Tannins are present but not harsh. The next day: Deep sweet core of blackberry fruit on the nose. Powerfully honed, rich, cassis sorbet and red fruit middle with fine length. Excellent vibrancy on the finish. Still coming on 20 hours after opening. A truly special mountain Cabernet. Be patient.”
–WineAccess Travel Log