Cabernet Sauvignon has become synonymous with California over the decades, and to this day it remains the most planted red variety in the state. But that success seems to have hollowed out the middle ground. The top wineries and brands continue to raise prices, jostling for position in the luxury tier while also keeping up with the rising cost of farming, and operating wineries and tasting rooms. Everything else seems to be a race to the bottom–mass produced wines with catchy labels on grocery store shelves. That’s why a wine like today’s tiny production beauty from winemaker Tadeo Borchardt is such a breath of fresh air: Regal, complex, powerful yet balanced Cabernet from a lovingly tended, old vines vineyard in the famed Moon Mountain District. The quality here is equal to, and often surpasses, many of those luxury, “culty” Cabs that cost four or five times as much, and as such it is in another realm entirely from the bargains at the local market. Pitch-perfect Cabernet, at a very fair price, with enough age to enjoy right now but with plenty of cellaring potential too. It’s time to pounce!
Tadeo Borchardt started his journey in winemaking at a very young age. He spent his early years in Arizona before finding his way to Sonoma county in 2002. Along the way he did numerous gigs and internships at wineries in New Zealand and throughout France, learning as much as he could at every winery he set foot in. In 2004 he was hired by Bruce Neyers to be the head winemaker at Bruce’s eponymous winery. Bruce, for those who don’t know, is a legendary figure in Napa Valley. He began working for some of the most influential winemakers back in the late 1960s and early ‘70s when the Northern California wine scene was just beginning to take off. For several decades he was also the national sales manager for Kermit Lynch, a job that had him visiting European winemakers and vineyards several times a year. When Bruce met Tadeo he recognized a kindred spirit–someone who was devoted to old-school, old-world influenced wines that also spoke directly to the special climates and terroirs of Napa and Sonoma.
With two decades of partnership now in the past it’s clear that the vision of Bruce and Tadeo has been a success, but Tadeo has always longed to have a label of his own, and a few years ago he was able to do just that when he created Camino Cellars. Using his sources from Neyers (where he still happily makes the wines!) Tadeo is able to produce wines that are entirely his own vision. One source that he discovered was a small, slightly unkempt vineyard of old vines Cabernet Sauvignon in the Moon Mountain district. The vineyard manager, none other than famed grower Chuy Ordaz, explained that the vines were not in neat rows because the rocky terrain meant they had just been planted wherever they would fit. Tadeo immediately recognized this method which is known as “En Foule” in France, and knew he wanted to make wine from this site right away.
The 2018 “En Foule” Cabernet is a beacon of balance and elegance–a regal style that was once common in Northern California but became vanishingly scarce in the 1990s and 2000s. That style is making a comeback now, and that’s thanks to dedicated winemakers like Tadeo. Serve this throwback beauty in a large Bordeaux stem at cellar temperature after 30 minute decant. Tadeo ages his wines for a full two years in a combination of new and used French oak barrels, and that combined with the additional four years of bottle age has this bottle in a lovely spot. Classic aromas of cassis, black cherry, Damson plum, cedar, tobacco leaf, graphite, and dried meat are all present and lead to a medium-full body that has well integrated tannins and a long mineral finish. Serve with a mesquite grilled T-bone and you will be in Northern California paradise.
