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Buccella, “Mica” Cabernet Sauvignon

Napa Valley, United States 2018 (750mL)
$120.00
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Buccella, “Mica” Cabernet Sauvignon

Today’s wine still holds a powerful spell over me from my restaurant days: Buccella’s “Mica” is effectively an earlier-drinking version of their highly acclaimed (and premium-priced) Napa Cabernet that has historically been sold only in restaurants. They don’t even offer the wine for sale at the winery. But I remember the reactions this wine got when I poured it for customers—that feeling of having (or, in my case, providing) a one-of-a-kind wine experience. Naturally, I was thrilled when a tiny parcel of Mica came our way to share with SommSelect subscribers.
It is produced in the same way that Bordeaux’s best “second wines” are made, meaning it hails from the same vineyards as Buccella’s flagship Napa Cabernet, and is vinified in essentially the same way. Having sat in on my share of blending sessions with winemakers, I can tell you that it is (a) fascinating and (b) often a very subtle distinction between a batch designated for the “first wine” and one marked for the “second.” But there is, of course, a big distinction in price—in Mica’s case, about a 50% discount off the headliner—without anywhere close to the same drop-off in opulence or impact. I’m excited to be able to share it with customers again, even though there still isn’t much—six bottles max per person until our allocation runs dry!
Those of you who are familiar with Buccella know that these are some seriously opulent Napa wines, sourced from a diverse collection of vineyards in Oakville, Yountville, St. Helena and Coombsville. The irresistible appeal of “Mica,” like that of a second wine from a great Bordeaux château, is this: If the “second” wine is this sumptuous, this layered, this polished, can you imagine what a blockbuster the “first” wine must be? Yes, you can—but, in the meantime, the second wine will do just fine, thanks. In fact, drinking it feels like you’ve pulled off a heist!

Further, it’s not as if “Mica” is some large-production cash cow for Buccella; only about 500 cases are made in any given vintage, and it spends 18 months in 70% new French oak. There’s still a tremendous amount of money and effort invested in this wine, and it shows: Proprietors Bill and Alicia Deem, along with winemaker Landon Donley, crave luxurious texture and bold flavors in their wines. “Buccella” means “mouthful” in Latin, and anyone who has tried these wines knows that they deliver on this promise.

So yes, this is powerhouse Napa Cabernet, buffed to a high shine, and yet its appeal for me is its excellent balance. For all its concentration, it is firm, mineral, and buoyant rather than flabby or syrupy. Consisting of 90% Cabernet Sauvignon along with 8% Merlot and 2% Malbec, this has lots of black/purple fruits but also a savory, brooding quality that will appeal to Left Bank Bordeaux fanatics. In the glass, it’s an opaque purple/ruby extending to a magenta rim, with textbook Cabernet aromas of cassis, blackberry, black cherry, graphite, tobacco, mocha, and wet gravel. Full-bodied and palate-coating, with velvety tannins even at this young stage, this is a wine which, by design, is meant for short-term drinking. Pull the cork on this hedonistic beauty on a cool evening and let it breathe in a decanter for a good hour or so before pouring into large Bordeaux stems at 60 degrees. I must say, there are many occasions when a voluptuous wine like this is just what the doctor ordered, especially later in the evening, when dinner is winding down and you want something to sip slowly, contemplatively, with your last bites of food. It’s a wine you won’t forget, even though you’re not likely to see it again soon. Don’t miss it!
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Country
United States
Region
Napa Valley
Sub-Region
United StatesOakville, Yountville, St. Helena and Coombsville
Soil
Mixed
Blend
Cabernet Sauvignon 90%, Merlot 8%, Malbec 2%
Alcohol
14.5
OAK
70% New French
TEMP.
60-65
Glassware
Bordeaux Stems
Drinking
Now-2030
Decanting
60 Minutes
Pairing
Red Wine-Braised Short Ribs

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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