Forman: Four Decades of Cabernet Sauvignon 1985-2012

Of all the vertical tastings I did this past March, my exploration of Ric Forman’s Cabernet Sauvignon was the most intriguing, as I was able to follow the striking evolution of this wine over the course of four decades. As was the case with my other verticals, I came away convinced that today’s wines are better than ever, despite opinions to the contrary by low-alcohol fundamentalists.

Winemaker Ric Forman with his son Toby and the lineup of Cabernet Sauvignon

Forman, who earlier in his career put the wines of Sterling Vineyards on the map during his years as winemaker there and subsequently co-founded Newton Vineyards, bought his own property in the hills above St. Helena at the base of Howell Mountain in 1978. He planted the steep 9.5 acres next to his house the following year, dynamiting the hillside to clear it of rocks. He vinified his first Cabernet in 1983, from the vineyard he calls Grande Roche.

The vineyard’s uplifted riverbed soil, very light and quick-draining, features more than 200 feet of gravel and decomposed volcanic tufa above the rock layer far below. From the start, Forman has made his Cabernet mostly from this vineyard, although between 1990 and 2006 he frequently included a portion of fruit from the 20-acre Thorevilos Vineyard located just above Grande Roche on somewhat lighter, chalkier soil. (Forman leases Thorevilos with his friend David Abreu, the noted viticulturist with whom he co-founded David Abreu Vineyard Management in 1980. Forman also made the Abreu Cabernet Sauvignon in his cellar through the 2000 vintage.) As Forman had to replant Grande Roche in 1996 due to phylloxera, his 1997 and 1998 bottlings contained more fruit than usual from Thorevilos.

Forman's vineyard above the winery required extensive dynamite explosions for rock shattering to facilitate planting