2015 Napa Valley – First Impressions

The 2015 Napa Valley Cabernets I have tasted from barrel so far are positively stunning in their beauty. Despite a year with considerable challenges and low yields, 2015 is shaping up to be a vintage of opulent, voluptuous wines with real personality and character. 

The 2015 Growing Season

Drought conditions and higher than average temperatures during the 2014/2015 winter caused the soils to warm up early, even more so than Napa Valley’s growers had seen in 2013 and 2014. Cool weather in May during flowering had some effect in lowering yields, depending on the site, but more challenges lay ahead.

Throughout the year, temperatures were higher than normal. “In 2015 we had 26 days over 100 degrees, whereas in a normal year we might see 10-12, including a stretch of five consecutive days with temperatures of 104 degrees,” Lou Kapcsándy told me.  It was a similar story at Joseph Phelps. “We had 20 days over 100 degrees. Dehydration was a real issue,” winemaker Ashley Hepworth reported.

Dana Estates' Helms Vineyard, Rutherford 

A cluster with severe dehydration

The 2015s From Barrel

I spent several weeks in Napa Valley this past spring tasting through the 2015s from barrel. Spring is one of my favorite times to taste in Napa Valley because it is the best time to see the wines in a finished enough state to get a sense of the year, but before blending, which means at many properties it is possible to taste parcel by parcel or variety by variety. In many ways, tasting young Cabernet from barrel in Napa Valley during the spring is much more similar to tasting young Burgundy than Bordeaux as the wines have often not been racked or touched at all, whereas in Bordeaux, for example, the blends need to be mostly finished by that time in order for the wines to be presentable for en primeur.

So far, the 2015 Napa Valley Cabernets I have tasted are stunningly beautiful. Two thousand fifteen is a classic Napa Valley vintage built on opulence, texture and voluptuousness. Interestingly, the wines also appear to have a good deal of freshness as well, especially for a warm year. Unfortunately, yields are down around 30-35% across the board. Although weather during flowering was less than optimal, growers cite dehydration as the main culprit for lower production.