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Matthew Wallace, Cabernet Sauvignon

California, United States 2016 (750mL)
$59.00
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Fruit
Earth
Body
Tannin
Acid
Alcohol

Matthew Wallace, Cabernet Sauvignon

Matt Hardin’s Napa Valley story reads a little bit like some of the wine-family stories we hear in Old World regions like Burgundy: He’s a sixth-generation farmer in Napa’s Pope Valley, where his family has grown wine grapes and raised cattle for 150 years, and he even married a local woman, Alicia Regusci, who’s also part of a legacy wine-growing family. He’s spent most of his career to this point focused on vineyard management, but it was only a matter of time before his name ended up on a label.
Today’s 2016 combines fruit from his family’s Wallace Ranch with some from Alicia’s family’s Regusci Ranch, in the Stags Leap District, to create a powerful and authentic expression of Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. With winemaking assistance from Bordeaux-trained consultant Julien Fayard , Matt used 100% Cabernet Sauvignon in this powerful, evocative wine—one of several over-performing boutique Cabernets we’ve tried recently. This wine is being sold at a price so low it makes you wonder why wines of comparable quality, from better-known producers, command two and three times the price. Just under 300 cases of this 2016 were produced, a small portion of which we obtained to share with you today. If you’re curious to see what new-generation Napa is capable of—without climbing into triple digits—it rarely gets better than this!
Both the Wallace Ranch and Regusci Ranch vineyards contain mostly ‘alluvial’ (i.e., river-borne) soils of gravel, clay-loam and sand, the classic “valley floor” composition that bears a such a strong resemblance to the soils of Bordeaux. In terms of its dense concentration of both color and flavor, the Matthew Wallace ’16 is an archetype, with lots of dark soil character to complement the deep, purple-tinted fruit component. It’s always a treat when wines of this size avoid ‘jamminess’ and instead impress with their thick muscularity. Normally, however, such dimensions will cost you a lot more!

Matt Hardin is one of those guys who has a “day job” while running his own label on the side—in this case, that day job is as the vineyard manager/partner at Barbour Vineyards. He, Alicia, and their two sons reside on Wallace Ranch, where they manage a herd of organically raised cattle as well as vineyards. The Wallace Ranch dates to 1868 and has been a source of premium Cabernet grapes for generations; now fully under Matt’s supervision, it forms the core of the Matthew Wallace blend. Julien Fayard, whose resume includes stints at Lafite-Rothschild in Bordeaux and with über-consultant Philippe Melka in Napa, shepherded the wine into the bottle in grand style.

Comprised of 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, this 2016 is both modern and classic at once: Supremely ripe and rich, but rooted in the gravelly soil. It displays an opaque purple-ruby core with hints of magenta at the rim, with an evocative Cabernet nose of black cherry, cassis, crushed blackberry, tobacco, dark chocolate, and crushed black rocks. It is full-bodied, with the fine-grained, polished tannins typical of the genre, and there’s a pleasing freshness that helps tame the elevated alcohol. If consuming this wine now, let it breathe in a decanter for a good hour before serving in large Bordeaux stems, keeping the serving temperature at the cooler end of the 60- to 65-degree scale. It should also improve over the next 5-10 years if kept well, and I wouldn’t hesitate to serve it next to boldface-name Napa reds costing much more. It’s the genuine article, ready to take on well-charred meats from the grill or long-cooked braises. Sometimes, especially this time of year, a bold and beautiful Cabernet is just what the doctor ordered!
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Country
United States
Region
California
Sub-Region
United StatesNapa Valley
Soil
Gravelly Loam
Farming
Organic Practices
Blend
Cabernet Sauvignon 100%
Alcohol
15.5
OAK
French Oak Barriques
TEMP.
60-65
Glassware
Bordeaux Stems
Drinking
Now-2026
Decanting
One Hour
Pairing
'Umami Burgers' w/ Port & Stilton

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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