Six Decades of Mayacamas Cabernet Sauvignon: 1967-2012

For six decades Bob Travers made some of the most compelling, age worthy and profound Napa Valley wines at Mayacamas. These magnificent Cabernet Sauvignons capture an artisan spirit from a long-gone era in Napa Valley that is only now being rediscovered and fully appreciated for what it is: one of the richest legacies in Napa Valley, the United States and the world. 

The early Mayacamas Cabernets were made from a combination of estate fruit and grapes purchased from nearby ranches, which was not unusual at the time. Travers aged is Cabernets for about three years in barrel, long by Napa Valley standards and a regime he stuck with until the end. Travers bottled cask by cask over periods of time, which is why there is a level of bottle variation with Mayacamas Cabernets. A handful of recent tastings provided a great opportunity to get a look at how a number of the reference-point vintages are holding up today. At their best, the Mayacamas Cabernets are spellbinding wines that will thrill those lucky enough to find them for several decades. 

One of the most iconic estates of Napa Valley, Mayacamas boasts a rich legacy that goes all the way back to the 1890s. The property's modern-day history begins in 1941 when the Taylor family resurrected a rugged hillside estate in the Mayacamas mountains, on what is now more commonly known as Mount Veeder, and started making and bottling their own wines. In 1968, the Taylors sold Mayacamas to Bob Travers and his wife, Elinor. A Stanford-educated petroleum engineer, Travers caught the wine bug in the late 1950s. That passion intensified in the following years, leading Travers to enroll at the University of California, where he took a number of courses in wine. One harvest with Joe Heitz in 1967 convinced Travers to buy his own piece of land. Mayacamas first gained global attention when the 1971 Cabernet Sauvignon was included in the famous ‘Judgement of Paris’ tasting in 1976, the first time American wines proved they could stand next to the established benchmarks of France. 

In May of 2013, Charles Banks and his wife, Ali, partnered with the Schottenstein family to buy Mayacamas. Banks had attempted several times to purchase Mayacamas, but it took him a number of years to put together the right team to get the deal done. Unlike other Napa Valley properties that have sold recently such as Sloan and Araujo, Mayacamas needs work. A lot of work. Over the years and decades, the vineyards have fallen into a state of neglect, which means the entire 58 acres of vines will need to be replanted over the next 5-7 years, something only a long-term investor can even contemplate, much less execute. Restoring Mayacamas is truly a labor of love, as the results of the work being done today will not be fully realized until a generation from now. Money is often viewed as the most important asset in business. But a lot of people have money. And money can be earned or borrowed, just as it can be lost. Then there is time. Time is something entirely different. Time can't be earned or borrowed. That is why it is the most important asset in running a successful business. Banks has time on his side, which makes him the ideal investor to lead Mayacamas through this transition and into the future.

Old, diseased vines right after having been ripped out

Banks created quite a stir when he brought Andy Erickson in to be the winemaker. Erickson has been behind a number of high-profile wines in recent years, none as iconic as Screaming Eagle. A view began to form that perhaps Erickson would try to totally modernize Mayacamas. Personally, I doubt that is going to happen. Erickson is one of the most thoughtful winemakers in Napa Valley. The more likely, and frankly interesting question is to what extent is Mayacamas going to influence Erickson’s work going forward. Erickson is no longer at Screaming Eagle, but he is heavily involved at a number of estates in the valley, including Dalla Valle, Ovid, Arietta and his own labels Favia and Leviathan. One change with the 2013 harvest is the arrival of a new sorting table, hardly radical but an addition nonetheless. Annie Favia, Erickson's wife, and Phil Coturri are overseeing vineyard management. I don’t know a single viticulturist who has more of an innate connection with the hillsides of Napa Valley and Sonoma than Phil Coturri. If anyone can coax this site back to health, he can.

I visited Mayacamas last September just as large chunks of vines were being torn out. One of the things I was most struck by was how remote and rugged the sprawling property is. It is not easy to get around Mayacamas. Frankly, it is virtually impossible to imagine what conditions must have been like here in the 1960s. Because of the very early harvest, some of the wines in tank were already nearly dry. The lots I tasted from tank were dark, intense and highly intriguing. Needless to say, it is going to be fascinating to watch the next chapter of Mayacamas's history unfold over the coming years and decades.

Current Winemaker Andy Erickson