2013 Dos Lagos Vineyards, Cabernet Sauvignon, Atlas Peak, Napa Valley.
Tom and Marcie Dinkel’s Dos Lagos Vineyards high on Atlas Peak is a tiny estate vineyard, farmed by famed vineyard manager Hector Lopez (ex-Caymus, Switchback Ridge and Padis) and handcrafted wines made by ex-Pride man Robert Foley, is always a pleasure to taste, and this 2013 is a huge and opulent Cabernet that perfectly translates vintage and place, this is pure mountain Napa in the glass with textural richness and incredibly deep and dark flavors. Grown on volcanic tuff, compressed ancient ash, this 100% Cabernet Sauvignon is filled with dense fruit, especially blackberry, plum, cherry and sweet currant in the form of creme de cassis as well as sweet scents of acacia, vanilla and toasty barrel, mocha and cola bean as well as ripe gripping tannin, spicy cigar wrapper, flinty mineral. A light dusting of coco, liquid violets, cedar and sage adds to the hedonism found in this massive wine, this full bodied effort is loaded and should give years of pleasure filled drinking, maybe decades, though with a vintage like 2013 you’ll want to enjoy them younger than the more cooly/firm structured 2014’s that should prove legendary as well, it would be tough to chose between them, and even though I find the vibrancy of 2014 hard to resist, these 2013 have fantastic luxurious presence and almost pornographic impact! I’ve been a fan of Dos Lagos Vineyards for almost a decade and this small winery never fails to impress and even at 15.5% this wine delivers a balanced feel, it’s extremely sexy and shows a remarkable intensity, while lavish and lush it has lots of life inside, showcasing it’s mountain terroir. Aged 23 months in 50% French oak, this wines natural tannin has been tamed and polished, but I was excited by the inner energy and vitality, something that is missing in some high-end Napa 2013 Cabernets, it also resists that dry port element that sometimes makes a warm vintage too much of a good thing, Dos Lagos Vineyards got this one nearly perfect. Dos Lagos recently added a couple of interesting white wines sourced from other sites, this includes a Chardonnay with an amazing story to tell and a Kent Jarman (Joie de Vivre, Kenefick Ranch, Joseph Kent and Coup de Foudre) made Calistoga Sauvignon Blanc. Dos Lagos Vineyards sells mostly direct, be sure to check them out and their estate Cabernet Sauvignon that compares well with the modern offerings from Cade, Plumpjack Reserve, Hourglass Estate and Caymus Special Selection.
($125 Est.) 94 Points, grapelive
