Hobel Wines, Cabernet Sauvignon "The Joist" Napa Valley, California, 2022

Overview of the Wine
The story of Hobel Wines began in 1998, when Cameron first met friend and winemaker Thomas Brown in Napa. Cameron was working as the Director of Business Development at Winebid.com and Thomas was working as Assistant Winemaker at Turley Wine Cellars. Their mutual love of great wine led to many shared dinners and glasses of wine, where they discussed the prospect of finding a project that would allow them to work together in producing a world-class wine. The opportunity finally arose eleven years later, with the 2009 Hobel Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.

Hobel, our family name, is also a traditional woodworking plane that has been used for centuries by skilled craftsmen to smooth, balance and finish wood surfaces. The "hobel" depicted on our label is a modern twist on this classic woodworking tool and each vintage of Hobel has a different species of custom-crafted wood that is hand applied to the neck of each bottle.

Grape / Blend
100% Cabernet Sauvignon

Origin
Napa Valley, California

Winemaker Tasting Notes
The 2022 growing season was a test of both patience and vineyard management. Early in the season, Calistoga, like much of Napa, enjoyed near-perfect weather, with warm days and cool nights—ideal for the slow, even ripening that Cabernet Sauvignon demands. However, the September heatwave posed significant challenges for winemakers across the Valley.  After tasting through the wines, we decided that blending the three vineyard sites would result in the best wine for the 2022 Hobel vintage.  The resulting blend, The Joist, is a symphony of each vineyard's most expressive elements and epitomizes our winemaking philosophy to put the best wine possible in the bottle.

92 Points - Ian Blackburn 

The voluminous and voluptuous nose of blue fruits gets your attention, the mouth is dense, and delicious.  There is a generous and ready to enjoy sense about this wine.  I think the price and quality put forward here is outstanding.  Thomas Rivers Brown has parented a huge number of stars... Schrader, Outpost, Rivers Marie, Senses, and now Hobel ... just to name a few.   I think this is a fun grab for under $100 - its bold and juicy and very people pleasing.  15+23+23+32 = 92 points 

90 Points - Jeb Dunnuck
Based on 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from a blend of the Larkmead, Winfield, and Pozzan vineyards and aged 20 months in 75% new French oak, the 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon The Joist offers juicy blue fruits, cedary herbs, violets, and hints of orange. It's medium to full-bodied, ripe, and charming on the palate, with soft tannins and a front-loaded style. With roughly 200 cases produced, it should drink well over the coming 5-7 years. Drink 2025-2032.

Product size: 750ml