2011 Lail Cabernet Sauvignon Blueprint

The 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon Blueprint jumps from the glass with freshly cut flowers, mint, sweet spices and red berries. The flavors are wonderfully alive and precise in this mid-weight, delineated Cabernet Sauvignon. With time in the glass, the fruit begins to emerge as the wine opens up and shows a little more juiciness. Dark red berries and sweet spices linger on the close. The 2011 was from a variety of sources; Vine Hill Ranch, Lambert, Evans, Brokern Rock, Heimark and Mole Hill. The ability to blend fruit from a number of sources gave consulting winemaker Philippe Melka the opportunity to get the most out of the vintage, and he crushed it with this superb Cabernet Sauvignon.

I noted that of the six sources used in the well-made 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon Blueprint, five of them are hillside locations off the valley floor, which no doubt explains its success in this irregular year. The wine’s deep ruby/purple is followed by notes of black currants, blackberries, charcoal, forest floor and a hint of cigar tobacco. Impressively endowed for a 2011, this soft Cabernet should be consumed over the next 7-10 years. One of my favorite small wineries in Napa Valley, Lail Vineyards produces the most singular and distinctive Sauvignon Blanc in Napa. Although it’s expensive, it is a delicious Sauvignon modeled after a great white Graves, and is meant for long-term cellaring. In most vintages, around 300 cases are produced. Lail’s less expensive Cabernet Sauvignon, Blueprint, comes from four to six different appellations, ranging from the cooler Yountville and Coombsville areas in southern Napa Valley, to mountain vineyards such as Howell Mountain and further north to the warmest region of Napa Valley, Calistoga. The wine spends 18 months in French oak, of which about half is new. Tel. (707) 968-9900

Brighter and higher-pitched on the nose than the 2010 edition, showing oaky aromas of dark berries, licorice, pepper, herbs and rocky minerality. Less lush in the middle and more claret-like in its restraint, with blueberry and licorice flavors dominating. A bit less broad and horizontal on the aftertaste, with the tannins showing a youthfully dry edge. Comes across as more oaky than the 2010, but both wines were aged in just under 50% new barrels.