I love me some mountain fruit! Nickel & Nickel’s Vogt Vineyard is perched up on top Howell Mountain – a  place revered among Cab lovers. The appellation sits above the Napa fog line and enjoys (from a winemaker’s perspective, anyway) dramatic daily temperature swings – warm during the day, and nice and chilly at night. Perfect conditions for ripening big, powerful Cabernet Sauvignon, balanced on the razor’s edge by a beautiful streak of acidity left behind by those cool nights. Age it for another 5 or 6 years, decant it for an hour and drink it – either way, this is some very special, very hard to find Cab that will knock your socks off.

Nickel & Nickel is a stampede wine specialist. The winery’s production is minuscule (less than 1500 cases for the Vogt Vinyard cab). They only bottle 100% varietal wines – no blending here. Their focus is singular, only bottling single vineyard wines. Why do we love it? The Wineries and winemakers who choose to bottle single vineyard wines are doing so in a nod to the idea that their wines are communicating something about a place. In this case, Nickel & Nickel  wants you to know that the Cabernet Sauvignon grape and the Vogt Vineyard, are ideally suited to speak to you about the Good and the Beautiful. For a less poetic explanation, check out this definition of the term Terroir.

Here’s what the winery has to say about the 2003 vintage of their Vogt Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon.

Vogt Vineyard is situated atop Howell Mountain, along the northeast edge of the Napa
Valley. The 14-acre vineyard reaches from a high elevation with shallow, rocky soils,
down to a lower bowl of deeper loam. The surprisingly warm climate, combined with
the vineyard’s steep southeast exposure, produces a dense and structured wine, typical
of hillside Cabernet Sauvignon.

This wine gets richer and more intense as the vineyard matures. Dark fruit
impressions mixed with a sweet perfume of floral and berry can be found in the
aroma. Wild berry and cassis are prevalent on the palate with some vanilla and cedar
coming from the oak. Although thick and chewy, there is a warm, coating texture to
this wine that gives it a lot of depth and power. Bold, yet rounded tannins, which are
ever present from Howell Mountain, are the signature of this full-bodied wine.

Nickel & Nickel Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, Vogt Vineyard, 2003
$70.25/bottle