For part two of today’s exploration into Napa’s highest elevations, we turn to its signature variety: Cabernet Sauvignon. And I suggest leaving any associations you might have with Napa Cab at the door. Much as we love the sumptuous, oak-spiced stylings that are the region’s bread and butter, Maître de Chai’s “Gala Mountain” Cabernet is another beast entirely. This is true mountain wine, with pitched aromatics and tensile structure that conjure up California’s redwood-bedecked wilds instead of the valley floor’s lavish tasting spaces. 

As Maître de Chai winemakers Alex Pitts and Marty Winters tell it, they never wanted to make Napa Cab, but once they saw the Gala Mountain vineyard—which clings to Mt. George at 1,000 feet—they knew they had to work with it. The timeless complexity of finely-etched black and purple fruits, pine-strewn forest floor, perfumed wildflowers, and cedary spice at play here proves their instincts were right. Napa Cabernet (wrongly) remains a four-letter word to many wine professionals, so I challenge even the hippest big-city somms to tell me they wouldn’t kill to have this exceedingly vibrant biodynamic cuvée in their back pocket. Grab what you can now because Maître de Chai’s “Gala Mountain” Cab is poised to become SommSelect’s next collectible!

On the one hand, Maître de Chai represents the newest breed of California winemakers: without vineyards to call their own but with the freedom to make wine from whatever variety in whatever site they please (they also produce a Sonoma Sauvignon Blanc that sits comfortably next to a Sierra Foothills Chardonnay). On the other hand, Alex and Marty are firmly old school, committed to preserving the pre-Prohibition traditions of California wine. They aim to bring back categories like Lodi Chenin that have a long history but little contemporary cachet. Their “Gala Mountain” bottling fits perfectly into that mold, harkening back to a lower-alcohol, earth-driven style of Napa Cab. The vineyard sits at 1100’ elevation on Mt. George, perched above the town of Napa. A north-facing aspect, biodynamic farming (replete with grazing sheep), and a soaring altitude all combine to produce tiny berries of intense flavor that are perfect for making a perfumed, soil-driven Cabernet.

Marty and Alex keep it hands off in their urban Berkeley winery, allowing fermentations to happen spontaneously and keeping sulfur additions to a minimum. Aging takes place entirely in neutral French oak. Neither of them are formally trained winemakers—they actually met working in Michelin-starred kitchens—and it’s all for the best. Like the Cabernets of yesteryear, these are wines made by intuition, not by recipe. It’s worth noting that Alex was the longtime assistant winemaker to Abe Schoener at the legendary Scholium Project, where he learned to push the boundaries of what California wine is capable of. 

Served at 65 degrees in Bordeaux stems, the Gala Mountain Cabernet reveals a purple core moving out to a magenta rim. The nose brims with brambly dark fruit, crushed blackberries, black cherry cherries, blackcurrants, plum skin, sassafras, cedar, damp violets, crushed rose, fresh tobacco, and red licorice. The palate is medium-plus in body with a finely grained blanket of tannins coming to the fore and it’s backed by juicy, palate-lengthening acidity. Fruits turn more red on the palate, bringing some pomegranate and red cherry to sit alongside pine and cedar tones. This is Napa Cabernet as we imagine it was in the 1970s, and it’s no surprise that those bottles still provide astounding pleasure today. This is vibrant, versatile, and delicious now, but I expect this has the stuffing to go 10 years or more in your cellar. If you, like so many wine drinkers these days, have sworn off Napa Cab in favor of more savory and earthy wines from France or Italy,  Maître de Chai is here to welcome you back into the fold!