Keplinger, 'Vine Hill Ranch' Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, 2021

Overview of the Wine
In 2004, I moved to the Priorat region in Spain to start the winery for a group of partners who had purchased a vineyard there. Over the next three years of living there full-time and then traveling back and forth from Napa Valley, I became steeped in the culture, lifestyle, food and wines.

Great wine is only possible from great vineyards – we select vineyards, farm grapes, and make wine by this mantra. At our core, we are wine lovers, and we thoroughly enjoy the process of seeking out exceptional vineyards ideal for a specific varietal, and farming for the highest quality. We sweat the details with pleasure – focusing on small quantities made from small wine lots, respecting and responding to the uniqueness of each site and year. Working hard but with finesse, we believe in gentle winemaking to create wines of balance and complexity that are true to their varietal and speak of their terroir and provenance.

In 2014, we began working with the gorgeous mountain fruit of Oakville Ranch Vineyard, which is high up on the Vaca range above Dalla Valle, tucked just below the southern edge of Pritchard Hill. Farmed organically with great heart and attention to every leaf and bug by the brilliant Phil Coturri, the soils are comprised of gorgeous Aiken and Hambright series red volcanics and the hills, swails, and aspects mean many little microclimates for layers and complexity. We coax fine texture from the tannin-building rocky soils, which also give a distinct note of minerality that is an unmistakable hallmark of this vineyard. Cool air spills and drains through this geomorphic bowl of vine rows daily, retaining acidity and freshness of flavors in the berries. Phil's canopies are the perfect balance between health and stress, spread open at the top for ideal holy grail dappled light, giving greater nuance to the red fruit notes that are a signature of this sun-bathed ranch. Working with Phil and his dedicated team really feels like a true collaboration to make something special, which is essential when making world-class wines with a soul. 

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Grape / Blend
Cabernet Sauvignon

Origin
Oakville Ranch Vineyard, Napa Valley, California

Winemaker's Tasting Notes
The vibrant nose sings with notes of cassis, black cherry, boysenberry, violets, raspberry flower, aromatic herbs, red licorice, pink peppercorn, darjeering tea, iron. The silky entry opens to intense flavors of red and black fruits, black tea, anise, bittersweet chocolate, and terra cotta with exotic Indian spices underpinned by powder fine, textural, mouth-coating tannins through to the long finish.

99 Points - James Suckling 

98 Points - Jeb Dunnuck
The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Vine Hill Ranch comes from a warmer site on the west side of the valley and is a bigger, broad, still incredibly seamless wine that has classic red and black fruits supported by notes of scorched earth, leafy tobacco, and dark chocolate. With a beautiful mid-palate, ripe, velvety tannins, and just a layered, majestic style, it deserves 3-5 years in the cellar and will cruise over the following two decades.

98 Points - Vinous
The 2021 VHR Cabernet Sauvignon is super polished. Freshly cut flowers, rose petal, lavender, and spice lend notable aromatic presence to the silky, nuanced wine. This is one of the most elegant wines I can remember tasting here even with the low yields and tiny berries. Silky, perfectly ripe tannins wrap around a core of red-purple fruit. Medium in body and wonderfully refined, 2021 is shaping up to be a gem. It is, quite simply, magnificent. My tasting at Vine Hill Ranch was one of the highlights of the time I spent in Napa Valley this fall. The wines were just sublime. Longtime winemaker Françoise Peschon crafts one of the most classically elegant Cabernets in Napa Valley, as evidenced by her superb 2021.98+ (AG)

98 Points - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
VHR's 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon is another fabulous wine from the Phillips family and winemaker Françoise Peschon. On the nose, it's a bit restrained, with a subtle herbal perfume, hints of peppery spice and a concentrated mix of red and black cherries. In the mouth, the wine is similarly composed and polite, being medium to full-bodied, silky and taut in feel, balanced and elegant on the lingering finish.

98 Points - Wine Spectator
A deep well of gorgeous raspberry, boysenberry, mulberry and black currant preserve flavors sparkle in this red, with anise, violet and wood spice hints throughout. All that is riveted to a terrific graphite spine running from start to finish, where a flash of cast iron peaks in. As the fruit lingers, a subtle echo of hibiscus provides a suave counterpoint. This wine encapsulates the best aspects of the vintage.

Product size: 750ml