Bottles produced: 1,200 (Magnums)
Grapes: Cabernet Sauvignon
Yield: 4 tonnes/ha
Alcohol: 14.5%
Format: Magnum
Drink from/to: 2020-2070
Price UK: £200 (magnum)
Price US: $240 (magnum)
The vintage: Following three stellar years Napa valley enjoyed another textbook vintage in 2009. Volume was slightly below average but quality was high, with steady weather throughout the summer and ideal late-season conditions.
The wine: ‘In 1984 when this vineyard came up for sale, we jumped on it,’ said David Heitz. ‘We knew it had great potential in the right hands to establish a powerful identity of its own.’ The Heitz family has done just that and Trailside Vineyard is regraded as one of the Valley’s flagship Cabernets. The single site is made up of 16 blocks, grapes from which are vinified and aged separately (in neutral then 100% new French Limousin oak) before the best barrels are blended to craft the Trailside Cabernet. Once in bottle, the wine spends a year in bottle ‘coming together’ before release.
Decanter review/reaction (2010 vintage): From a vineyard in east Rutherford, the 2010 Trailside is bursting with notes of deep black fruit, burning embers, singed plum and bitter chocolate—or is that the famed “Rutherford dust”? Richly savoury, this wine is structured around velvety tannins and bright acidity and should cruise along in the cellar. 94 points – William Kelley, May 2016.
