2012 Metaphora Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

2012 Metaphora Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

2012 Metaphora Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon The 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon is polished, soft, well-rounded, and elegant with expressive layers of dark red and black berries, vanilla, dark chocolate, roasted coffee beans, tobacco, and ends with a long, pure silky finish. The firm Howell Mountain tannins are softened with fruit from the valley floor, making this dynamic wine extremely approachable now, but with ample structure to enjoy well into the next decade. 95.3% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4.7% Petit Verdot. 28 months in French oak barrels. Winemaker: Bruce Scotland. 525 cases produced.

Metaphora

Wine has long been a metaphor for the best life has to offer – a celebration of family and friends, momentous events, the ultimate symbol of living well. For Metaphora founder, Ravi Mehta, the meaning runs deeper: it is a playful pun in honor of his family: “Four Mehtas,” an homage to artisan winemaking which prizes the integrity of each bottle, and a celebration of wine as the quintessential embodiment of joie de vivre, represented by the Three Graces: Aglaia (Splendor), Euphrosyne (Mirth), and Thalia (Good Cheer), who adorn the label and speak to the philosophy behind Metaphora wines.

Each bottle is a meditation on wine as art – utilizing the best grapes from Napa Valley’s most famed vineyards, and dedicated to excellence in winemaking, each vintage is handcrafted and made in limited quantities to ensure that quality is never compromised.  Metaphora observes the time-honored practices that include carefully monitored growing, an impeccably timed harvest, handpicked and hand-sorted grapes placed in small bins, cold-soaked for maximum extraction of the skins, whole cluster fermentation, and meticulously managed aging in the highest quality French oak barrels.

Cabernet Sauvignon  

Cabernet Sauvignon is the world’s foremost red wine-grape variety. Though widely cultivated throughout the world, it is most commonly associated with the red wines of Bordeaux.

In the vineyard, Cabernet Sauvignon grapes are small, thick-skinned and decidedly blue-colored, with a high pip-to-pulp ratio. Its thick skin results in wines of profoundly deep color, and the pips add a high level of tannin.

It ripens late, which is advantageous in warmer climates like Bordeaux, France and California. In colder growing environments, Cabernet Sauvignon can easily fail to ripen properly. Unripe Cabernet Sauvignon shows a lot of the aromas similar to unripe Cabernet Franc, notably a green or herbaceous character. This may not be entirely surprising, as Cabernet Sauvignon’s parents are Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc.

Cabernet Sauvignon’s flavors can vary from region to another. Cabernet Sauvignon produced in Bordeaux’s Margaux appellation varies considerably from one grown farther north in Pauillac, for example. The best Cabernet Sauvignon wines tend to have deep color, good structure and a full body. They are tannic in youth, especially when aged in oak, and often require a few years to soften before they become enjoyable to drink. Typical flavors may include black fruits like blackcurrant or blackberry, as well as fragrant cigar box, tobacco and coffee.