2018 Hobel Cabernet Sauvignon The Burl
The Wine
Burl: Unique, highly-figured wood, prized for its beauty and rarity.
2018 is our inaugural vintage for The Burl, sourced from the Heritage School Vineyard, which sits directly across the street from the vineyard for “The Grain” in Calistoga. Since we lost The Grain in 2018 and also The Arris (don’t worry it will be back in 2019!), we were excited to be able to add The Burl to our lineup. The wine is produced from all Clone 337 and sourced from two different vineyard blocks: the steep Hillside block provides structure to the blend and the dry-farmed and gentle sloping Lakeview block provides depth and richness. The wine spent 20 months in Darnajou oak barrels, 75% of which were new.
The Burl exhibits a lifted nose of sandalwood, pine resin, baking spice and black walnut, interlaced with blue and black fruits. The palate is deep and lush, again highlighted by black fruit, milk chocolate and wood spice. Great freshness carries the finish on and on, enhancing the detail in this wine. Hobel fans will see a lot of familiar notes in this wine - dare we say, Grain 2.0?!
The Vintage
2018 was a welcome return to normal. The vineyards re-energized with the abundant winter rains and cooler spring temps and moisture in the soils lead to later bud break and bloom. These important events were coupled with near-perfect weather which allowed the fruit to set evenly and abundantly. The fruit developed on the vine throughout the summer without many major heat events. These consistent, warm temperatures drove great, balanced phenolic development in the fruit. Going into harvest, we saw no inclement weather to force our picking decisions, which was ideal for our sites like Heritage School in Calistoga, where we typically see ideal maturity in October.
The Notes (From Winemaker Thomas Rivers Brown)
With the exit of The Grain from the Hobel lineup, it just made perfect sense to source from Heritage School Vineyard, which lies just across the street. Our team has worked with the vineyard since 2008 and intimately knows the nuances of the different blocks. The vineyard delivered outstanding fruit in 2018. We chose to pair the very steep Hillside block, which gives the wine its structure and backbone, with the dry farmed Creekside block, to add depth and density. The Burl has a lot of parallels to those produced from its neighbor across the street, with the savory notes and fresh vibrant long finish.
- Neck
Sapele - Blend
100% Cabernet Sauvignon - Vineyard
Heritage School Vineyard - Appellation
Napa Valley - Production
99 cases
