Fans of the “SOMM” documentary series know Dlynn Proctor as the suave and stylish one in the film’s original gang of four, and I’m happy to have him as a Napa Valley neighbor now that he’s the Director at Fantesca Estate & Winery on Spring Mountain. Fantesca owners Susan and Duane Hoff couldn’t have picked a better guy to expand the estate’s profile as it grows its already high profile.
Though Fantesca’s mailing list is currently full, DLynn managed to wriggle free a few cases of today’s wine to share with the SommSelect family. Part of a multi-vintage series of wines inspired by a Winston Churchill quote, today’s 2014 “All Great Things: Hope” is a monumental mountain Cabernet sourced from two iconic vineyards and styled by none other than Heidi Barrett—author of blockbusters from the likes of Screaming Eagle, Dalla Valle, Amuse Bouche, and her own label, La Sirena (among others). Given the combination of talent and terroir behind today’s bottle, I was expecting it to cost more, but for now, it delivers the ultimate in ‘cult wine’ luxury without (yet) climbing into the stratosphere. We can offer up to three bottles per customer today—a great opportunity to add a still-undiscovered gem to your collection.
Having gained notoriety not just from the “SOMM” films but from his lengthy stint as the Winemaking Ambassador for Australian wine giant Penfolds,
DLynn has shifted gears and taken on a much smaller—if no less ambitious—operation at Fantesca. The beautifully appointed, hospitality-focused property is situated on Spring Mountain (not far from Philip Togni) and spans 53 acres, of which 10 acres are planted to vines. Their core estate vineyard has some rich history, having originally been planted in 1860 “as part of Caroline Bale’s dowry when she married Charles Krug.” It was sold and went dormant sometime between the Phylloxera epidemic of the 1900s and Prohibition, eventually returning to its original, forested state until it was revived and replanted in the late-1990s. The Hoffs acquired the property in 2002 and started releasing wines commercially in 2004, with the estate-grown production (about 450 cases) supplemented by wines sourced from top area vineyards. Total production remains small, about 3,000 cases.
The “All Great Things” series of wines was launched in 2009, taking its inspiration from Sir Winston Churchill, who said “All great things are simple, and many can be expressed in single words: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope.” Today’s wine, from 2014, is the “Hope” bottling, comprised of mostly Cabernet Sauvignon, kissed with Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc, aged 20 months in a small portion of new French oak. The lion's share of the blend is sourced from one of Napa Valley’s greatest mountain vineyards: Howell Mountain’s historic Black Sears Vineyard, a high-elevation site on volcanic soils.
In the glass, the 2014 “Hope” is an opaque ruby-purple with flecks of garnet, with an explosive nose of blackberries, black currant, cassis, violets, tobacco, dark chocolate, espresso grounds, and dark, humid earth. It is a full-bodied, “main event” style of Cabernet in need of a good hour in a decanter before serving in large Bordeaux stems at 60 degrees. Like a lot of Napa Cabernets at this elite level, it is quite delicious to drink now but is also multi-layered and fresh enough for extended aging: I think the peak window for this bottle will come around its 10th birthday, but it’ll continue to evolve well after that if kept well. This is luscious, seductive Cabernet meant for grilled beef, lamb, or maybe something a little slicker and more polished, like a whole-roasted duck, carved at the table. DLynn would approve, as would I, so pull some corks and enjoy!
