"…dichte, fleischige, saftige Frucht, Cassis satt, schwarze Kirschen, Schattenmorellen, große Struktur, Frucht pur, feine spicy Noten, dicht und konzentriert am Gaumen, toll" (08/2024)
Decanter: 99 Punkte
Since 1995, Lokoya has produced Cabernet from the Veeder Peak Estate at 548m on the western ridges of the Mayacamas Mountains. This is a do-not-open wine for until at least 2026. Full-bodied with palate-arresting tannins that are super-compact, long, and so densely pixelated they etch themselves into every nook and cranny on the palate. Only a minute later does your mouth find release as this thread of crunchy acidity begins to sweep away the powerful tannins to reveal the underlying blue fruit and violet aromatics that are so beautifully pure and youthful. Simply put, tuck it away for several years and then, if you can, explore bottles every few years until your stash runs out. In the low-yielding 2021 vintage, the skin-to-juice ratio is such that this may prove to be one of the longest-lived Lokoya wines yet, given the intensity of the tannin and the freshness of the underlying acidity. Chris Carpenter makes the Lokoya wines, and the label is owned by the Jackson Family. There are four 100% Cabernet Sauvignon wines 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. These mountains define cooling as any place in the valley and the diurnal temperature shifts at higher elevations create an equilibrium where climatic fluctuations aren't as pronounced as fruit grown below the fog lines.
- Jonathan Cristaldi (07/2024)
