2010 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon: An Epic Vintage

by Antonio Galloni

Fans of Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon will find a lot to get excited about with the 2010 vintage. The 2010s are magnificent, viscerally thrilling wines loaded with character and personality. To be sure, the 2010s – the product of a long, cold growing season – are going to require a few years in bottle. This is the type of vintage that is often overlooked upon release, but that consumers regret not purchasing more deeply when the wines start showing their full potential 4-5 years later. There is no question 2010 is the greatest vintage for Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon in the 2008-2011 time frame.

The 2010 Cabernet Sauvignons

Up until 2011, 2010 was the longest and coldest growing season many producers had ever seen. The summer was quite cold, which tempted some winemakers to de-leaf, a big mistake when an unexpectedly long and brutal heat wave arrived towards the end of the season. Where growers were more prudent, the wines are utterly brilliant, with deep colors, precise fruit, ripe tannins and expressive aromatics. Because the growing season was so long, the vines achieved full phenolic maturity, which gave the tannins a level of textural elegance that is unusual in such big wines. At the same time, there is plenty of California richness, something Napa Valley has no problem producing in abundance. In other words, the best 2010s also possess stunning harmony. The superiority of the 2010s vis-à-vis the 2009s is increasingly clear, in that the 2010s have much more finessed tannins, richer fruit and better balance. Another feature of the 2010s is that the wines are very site-specific, in other words, they are steeped in terroir. Yes, terroir does exist in California. More on that below.

Readers should do whatever they can to source the best 2010s, as they are magnificent. The top wines will reward cellaring and be long-lived. The weak spot for 2010 is the mountains, where the fruit didn’t ripen as well in all sites. In many places, the 2009s are superior to the 2010s, so a little more selectivity is required when looking at the 2010 Cabernets from mountain vineyards.

On the subject of the 2009 Cabernet Sauvignons, many wines have firmed up since I tasted them last year. The 2009s were largely picked in advance of inclement weather that was on the horizon in mid October. As a result, there is a firmness in the tannin in many wines that suggests phenolic ripeness was lower than in 2010. I am not sure if the 2009s are closing down in bottle, or if the quality of the tannin is simply becoming more evident, but I suspect that is a case-by-case assessment.