Teeter-Totter, Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
California / Napa Valley, United States 2016 (750mL)
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Teeter-Totter, Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
Benoit Toquette is unquestionably one of Napa’s most gifted minds, dubbed a “rising star” by fellow winemakers and critics. He has worked alongside Andy Erickson, fine-tuning his skills at Arietta, Ovid, and Screaming Eagle. He has made every vintage of Kata (of the Beckstoffer family) and somehow manages to continue his lengthy stint as head winemaker at Hartwell and Realm Cellars. But Teeter-Totter is more personal: It’s where Benoit is emotionally invested not only as a winemaker but as a proprietor.
The product of elite Napa Valley vineyards, Teeter-Totter is a masterful, cult-luring Napa Cabernet for a very ‘un-cult’ Napa price. The vineyard sources for today’s bottle are undisclosed (and that’s a good thing or else the wine might cost three times as much), but it’s a blend of fruit from St. Helena, Calistoga, Pritchard Hill, Oakville, and Yountville. Described as the “best vintage” of Teeter-Totter yet made, this is predominantly sold to the winery’s mailing list, and we’re fortunate to have secured enough for this special offer. It perfectly captures the supreme elegance of 2016 and will shock (and delight) anyone who gravitates to the high end of Napa Cabernet. Trust me: This is an amazing find!
The product of elite Napa Valley vineyards, Teeter-Totter is a masterful, cult-luring Napa Cabernet for a very ‘un-cult’ Napa price. The vineyard sources for today’s bottle are undisclosed (and that’s a good thing or else the wine might cost three times as much), but it’s a blend of fruit from St. Helena, Calistoga, Pritchard Hill, Oakville, and Yountville. Described as the “best vintage” of Teeter-Totter yet made, this is predominantly sold to the winery’s mailing list, and we’re fortunate to have secured enough for this special offer. It perfectly captures the supreme elegance of 2016 and will shock (and delight) anyone who gravitates to the high end of Napa Cabernet. Trust me: This is an amazing find!
It’s hard not to talk about modern-day Napa Valley Cabernet without mentioning Benoit Toquette. If you haven’t guessed already, Benoit is French, born in Lyon. He dreamed of being a fighter pilot, but an imperfect medical test shuffled his career cards. After flirting with banking and road construction, he ended up on a bottling line in Bordeaux and never looked back. He earned Master Diplomas in enology and chemistry at the University of Bordeaux, where he apprenticed at Château La Louvière and Château Couhins-Lurton (both in the Graves region). But Bordeaux posed its challenges for winemakers who did not come from a winemaking family, especially for those, like Benoit, who wanted to make exquisite, sought-after Cabernet Sauvignon. So, in pursuit of a “big break,” and unhindered opportunity, Benoit moved to the epicenter of American Cabernet.
For anyone who has moved across the country, let alone across the world, new places are tough, and as a winemaker, Napa Valley is a rare echelon. It’s a region defined by its connections, generations of winegrowing families, and hard loyalties. To walk in and make world-class Cabernet doesn’t happen overnight. But Toquette has overpaid his wine dues, working alongside the right people for a decade, slowly connecting the dots to Teeter-Totter and Fait-Main (his other label). In today’s wine, 85% Cabernet Sauvignon finds its groove with 10% Merlot and 5% Petite Sirah. All the fruit is hand-harvested and comes from sustainably farmed vineyards. The wine ages in 60% new oak, but it is hardly an oak bomb, as each seam of vanilla and warm spice melts seamlessly into the spirals of dark red and black fruits.
The 2016 Cabernet vintage is one of power and cosmic depth, but there is an unexpected finesse in the wines as well. Polish your finest Bordeaux glasses and decant the wine for 30 minutes after opening. In the glass, a deep, almost opaque red-purple extends into dark violet with a thin, tawny ruby rim. The aromatics are instantly dynamic, escalating from fresh dark raspberries and plums to mossy greens, a liqueur of cassis, sweet tobacco, and tree bark. Fine, leathery tannins coat the palate and let the delicious quirks of Napa unfurl: dusty gravels, polished graphite, chocolate, and baked red earth. The finish is ultra-long, decadent yet restrained, driven by medium-plus acidity. We all know that Cabernet likes fine cuts of steak and lamb, but let’s take a hint from today’s witty label and try the less obvious: mushrooms. You don’t have to be a meat lover to enjoy the best expressions of Napa Valley Cabernet (and you don’t have to be a vegetarian to know how to cook mushrooms). Stews are versatile because they can be a side dish or a hearty meal, like this attached recipe. And remember, there are no strict rules on the playground with something extraordinary like Teeter-Totter. Cheers!
