Napa Valley

Full

Cork

Jumping Goat Vineyard is next to Spottswoode and Madrona Ranch, and Philippe and Cherie Melka have worked with this site since the early 2000s. It’s a three-acre vineyard planted to Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Petit Verdot, though they don't always use the Merlot in the blend, and not in 2023. This vintage is just Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot, aged roughly 18–20 months in 65% new French oak. This is a fabulous wine in 2023, with incredibly dark berry fruit density and freshness, absolutely pure fruit layered with expressive sous bois, loamy earth notes, violets, and deep wood spices. It’s so exciting because of how much it calls to mind the savoury aspects of a great Bordeaux, like Château Pontet-Canet, balanced by the unmistakable fruit ripeness of the California sun. Blue and black fruit notes are integrated nicely with toasty oak nuances and exceptional length, with wet slate minerality and ultra-fine tannins backed by crisp, blood-orange acid tension.

Cabernet Sauvignon

Petit Verdot

Melka Estates, Métisse, Napa Valley, California, USA, 2023

Jumping Goat Vineyard is next to Spottswoode and Madrona Ranch, and Philippe and Cherie Melka have worked with this site since t

Melka Estates, Métisse, Napa Valley, California, USA, 2023

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