2016 Mark Herold Cabernet Brown Label

2016 Mark Herold Cabernet Brown Label

All-Time Great Vineyard, Rockstar Winemaker. Drinks Like Its Double The Price. Last Shot At The Great 2016 Vintage!

Mark Herold is making and has made some of the finest Cabs in California. The guy is a proven winner making wines for the likes

of Harris, Hestan, Kobalt, Buccella, and Kamen. He got his start in the wine business working for Joseph Phelps before founding Merus. Mark has started making wines under his own label, tiny amounts, hardcore, absolutely deadly. He makes two Cabs, the ‘White’ label that goes for $200 a bottle and the ‘Brown’ label Cabernet. The 2016 Mark Herold ‘Brown Label’ Cabernet is a rock star of a Cabernet. The wine got a monster 95pts by Galloni which is a huge score from the more conservative Galloni.

The wine is from Oakville, Coombsville and the great Stage Coach Vineyard neighboring Pritchard Hill. Production is tiny only 250 cases and what’s in the bottle will floor you. 2016 is a tremendous vintage, 98pts by Parker’s WA, the highest rating they have ever given Napa in over 40 years. This is the best 2016 at its price I have tasted to date, has the makings of a truly great wine. Delicious now but definitely lay down the material. Awesome Cab!

95 Points From  Galloni

A hedonistic, opulent expression of Cabernet Sauvignon from Coombsville. Juicy ripe blackberries, black currants, crushed granite, and honeyed black raspberries sing from the glass. Notes of black cardamom, freshly picked violets, and graphite complete the aromatic landscape of this wine. Savory, balanced, and amazingly concentrated; this wine possesses explosive flavors of black and purple fruits pinned together with incredible minerality. Enjoy over the next 20 years or more.

On the fringe of Atlas Peak, bordering the Oakville AVA our block in Stagecoach Vineyard was planted in 2008 to Mark’s exact specifications.  One of the highest planted elevations in Stagecoach, this block was difficult to access by vehicle and required many months of dynamiting in preparation for planting.

The sparse soils are the deepest of red and are riddled with volcanic basalt and rocks of all sizes.  The block is steeply situated and surrounded by chaparral.  Mark selected his favorite ENTAVE clone 169 which produces small-berried clusters full of concentrated flavors with a strong sense of terroir.