2016 Kenefick Ranch, Cabernet Sauvignon “Doctor’s Cuvée” Estate Grown, Calistoga AVA, Napa Valley.
I was thrilled to try this reserve bottling from Kenefick Ranch, it really is in a wonderful stage, combining the power of the 2016 vintage in Napa with some graceful elegance brought on with a good bit of maturity, though there even more potential here for decades of future rewards with this wine’s depth and structure well put together for extended cellaring. This deep garnet/crimson Cabernet shows off excellent purity with blackberry, currant, plum and blueberry coulis fruit on the full bodied and luxurious palate that has sweet cedary wood framing the fruit, along with cut tobacco leaf, anise, acacia flower, sage, loam and vanilla accents, all adding up to a well made and impeccable Napa expression of Cabernet Sauvignon. Winemaker, Chris Kenefick, explains that every year the Doctor’s Cuvee is selected from the best lots of the vintage and the finest barrels of each lot. The final blend is fleshed out, with some seeing a small amount of new French Oak to add, he says, boldness and character impact on the wine’s palate. The 2016 uses Chris’s best or favorite selected barrels from a Clone 6 block and from there Clone 337 block, which gives great complexity and balance, which I can attest to here. This Kenefick Ranch Doctor’s Cuvée, the winery’s most coveted all estate, Calistoga AVA effort, got 24 months in wood, with 70% New French Oak and 30% neutral French Oak, and then another 12 months in the bottle before release.
The Kenefick Ranch Vineyard, as mentioned here in recent years, is a fantastic 125 acre estate located beneath the Palisades of Mt. St. Helena on the east side of Calistoga and, as mentioned in my prior reviews, is widely known for the quality of their grapes, which they mostly sell to top end wineries, though they keep a small amount for their small label. Owned by the Kenefick family, with Chris running the show these days, the vineyard has been in operation since 1985 with hillside vines mainly planted to Bordeaux varietals. The Kenefick Ranch Winery started with their 2002 vintage wines and has now after 20 or so years has gained an enthusiast following, though keeping incredibly realistic pricing. Again, aarlier this year I met up with Chris Kenefick at portfolio tasting, and tasted through his wines from his family’s vineyard close to Calistoga and I especially loved this firm, ripely dense 2016 Doctor’s Cuvée, the previously reviewed 2018 Cabernet Franc Caitlin’s Select, which combines the power and depth of its Napa valley fruit with the cool elegance and the perfect balance of the vintage, so it was nice follow with again with the gorgeous and opulent 2019 signature Cuvée Cabernet Sauvignon and the cooler 2021s, which are stunning as well, though best to give them time. The Doctor’s Cuvée, 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, coming in at close to 15% natural alcohol, was, as noted above, a special barrel selection with this vintage seeing top notch Taransaud, Orion and Sylvain casks, which are now receding nicely in to the background, allowing the wine to really show off its impressive full array of flavors.
($125 Est.) 95 Points, grapelive