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Ghostwriter, Cabernet Sauvignon, Single Vineyard, Bates Ranch

California, United States 2013 (750mL)
$75.00
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Fruit
Earth
Body
Tannin
Acid
Alcohol
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Ghostwriter, Cabernet Sauvignon, Single Vineyard, Bates Ranch


While Kenny Likitprakong grew up in Sonoma with a constellation of winemaking and grape growing aunts and uncles, he always gravitated more toward surfing, skateboarding, and literature. Fortunately for us, that all changed during Kenny's first trip to Europe in the 1990's. He returned home inspired, and soon enrolled in UC Davis' famed viticulture and enology degree program. Unlike most of his local winemaking peers in the early 2000's, Kenny was adamant about bottling wines that were moderate in alcohol while balancing fruit driven, savory and more mineral elements. Over the last decade and a half, Kenny has honed his craft in the cellar while also becoming a respected vineyard manager in Northern California. Today, he commands a dizzying and impressive array of small vineyard plots in Mendocino, Sonoma, and Santa Cruz counties, almost all dry farmed and organically grown. He bottles small lots under a variety of labels, but his Ghostwriter wines—focused around top vineyard sites in the Santa Cruz mountains—represent the pinnacle of his talents in the cellar and vines. 

The 2013 Ghostwriter Cabernet Sauvignon “Bates Ranch” originates from one of the most time tested and respected Cabernet vineyards in the Santa Cruz mountains. Planted in 1973, Bates Ranch sits at 2,000ft elevation and is farmed organically and without any irrigation. Over its four decade lifespan, this timeless gravel and loam-based vineyard has provided fruit for Kathryn Kennedy, Ahlgren, and a veritable hall of fame of Santa Cruz mountains producers. Kenny harvests fruit at an optimal sweet spot that captures ripeness, depth, but also the characteristic elegance and freshness that makes this region special. One fifth of the harvest is left in whole clusters during fermentation. Juice is then separated into 25% 4-year-old French oak barrels, and the remaining 75% into ancient, completely neutral French oak barrels where it ages for 18 months in wood and an additional 6 months in bottle before release.

The resulting wine is deep, opaque and dark garnet colored in the glass. From the moment the cork is pulled it is clear that this is an extremely serious and expertly crafted wine. Every small detail that makes this bottle special is arranged perfectly to create an elegant and refined finished product. Above all, I want to stress that this is not a slick, syrupy, sweet modern Cab—it is the opposite, if anything. It pays homage to the golden era of Californian winemaking in the 1970’s and 1980’s. The black currant, dark plum, wet tobacco, cedar and wet earth aromatics offers something incredibly pure. Oak softens the wine’s tannic structure and gives a gentle cedar and cigar box-like seasoning to the nose akin to the great wines of Bordeaux. This is a wine that vividly expresses its vineyard and region of origin— it is a perfect, textbook example of Santa Cruz mountains Cabernet Sauvignon. Please decant for 30 minutes before serving in large Bordeaux stems just above cellar temperature. This wine is a brilliant companion to a standing rib roast or other gently seasoned beef preparation. It has the ideal complexity and architecture to improve for another 10 to 15 years in your cellar. There is no doubt this is one of the great expressions of the great California terroir.

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Country
United States
Region
California
Sub-Region
United StatesSanta Cruz Mountains
Farming
Organic
Blend
Canernet Sauvignon
Alcohol
14.0
OAK
French

United States

Washington

Columbia Valley

Like many Washington wines, the “Columbia Valley” indication only tells part of the story: Columbia Valley covers a huge swath of Central
Washington, within which are a wide array of smaller AVAs (appellations).

Oregon

Willamette Valley

Oregon’s Willamette Valley has become an elite winegrowing zone in record time. Pioneering vintner David Lett, of The Eyrie Vineyard, planted the first Pinot Noir in the region in 1965, soon to be followed by a cadre of forward-thinking growers who (correctly) saw their wines as America’s answer to French
Burgundies. Today, the Willamette
Valley is indeed compared favorably to Burgundy, Pinot Noir’s spiritual home. And while Pinot Noir accounts for 64% of Oregon’s vineyard plantings, there are cool-climate whites that must not be missed.

California

Santa Barbara

Among the unique features of Santa Barbara County appellations like Ballard Canyon (a sub-zone of the Santa Ynez Valley AVA), is that it has a cool, Pacific-influenced climate juxtaposed with the intense luminosity of a southerly
latitude (the 34th parallel). Ballard Canyon has a more north-south orientation compared to most Santa Barbara AVAs, with soils of sandy
clay/loam and limestone.

California

Paso Robles

Situated at an elevation of 1,600 feet, it is rooted in soils of sandy loam and falls within the Highlands District of the Paso Robles AVA.

New York

North Fork

Wine growers and producers on Long Island’s North Fork have traditionally compared their terroir to that of Bordeaux and have focused on French varieties such as Cabernet Franc and Merlot.

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