One of the most compelling California Cabernets we've tasted comes from the most unlikely of places.
The very cool Fort Ross-Seaview AVA has established itself as one of California's top Pinot Noir addresses. Enfield's Cabernet is a wonderful surprise.
Enfield's John Lockwood sums up the vineyard as follows: “Marcassin and Hirsch are directly opposite this site and no one even knows about it.” Lockwood fell in love with the vineyard.
It's rare that we offer a Cali Cab, but we were blown away by the 2013 Fort Ross. It reminds us of the Cabs from California's golden age in the 1960s and 1970s that we love so much. There's a similar understatement, structure and subtle, savory profile.
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The 2013 Fort Ross Cab has tremendous energy and length, boasting a beautifully persistent saline minerality. The wine is 80% Cabernet, with the other 20% made up of Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. It offers an aromatic complexity that we very rarely encounter in a California Cabernet Blend. This is a Cali Cab at its most finessed and agile. It's shocking.
This is a wine born from extremity. The vineyard source for this bottling is in Fort Ross-Seaview, a carveout from the amorphous Sonoma Coast appellation. Remote, vertiginous, and contoured to the Pacific Coast, very little of it is even arable. There's a crazy tension between the cool coastal influence and the warmth of the California sun. All of this results in a 2013 Fort Ross of thrilling harmony and snap.
For more background on Enfield, I encourage you to check out Levi Dalton's I'll Drink To That interview with John Lockwood. It was Levi who brought the Fort Ross Cab to my attention. He basically said, "you have to check this out." We were fans of the 2012, but the 2013 is stunning.
Lockwood only produces 175 cases of the 2013 Fort Ross Cab. We took all that we could, but that doesn't amount to much. Please give us your ideal order and we'll try our best.
To order, email offers@crushwineco.com or call the store at (212) 980-9463.
Joe Salamone
Wine Buyer
Crush Wine & Spirits