The 2019 Napa Valley Cabernets: A Deep Dive

BY ANTONIO GALLONI | JANUARY 07, 2022

My annual report on Napa Valley is jam-packed. The 2019 Cabernets are big, bold wines that show the extroverted side of Napa Valley. There are plenty of fabulous wines at all levels, but 2019 does not have the across the board consistency of a truly great vintage, so readers will have to be selective.

This report focuses on the 2019s, most of which were bottled in the summer of 2021. Some of the 2019s were still in barrel at the time of my tastings, most notably those of estates that favor a longer aging regime of 30 months +/- of time in wood. These include Abreu, Harlan, Bond, Sloan, Vineyard 7&8 and Shafer for Hillside Select. A few additional wines had not been bottled because of the global shortage of glass, a reminder of the times in which we live.

Ordinarily, this report includes reviews of the latest vintage in barrel, in this case 2020, but I decided not to include most 2020s here for reasons I explain in more detail below. Instead, I chose to revisit many 2018s because I wanted to compare notes from onsite tastings with my reviews from last year, when I tasted all the wines in New York. Of course, the two sets of tastings are separated by a year, so it is not an apples-to-apples comparison. As readers will see, I found the 2018s I tasted this past fall every bit as compelling as they were last year. I also included a handful of reviews for Sonoma producers who focus on Bordeaux varieties, as those wines are a better fit in this article than in my upcoming Sonoma report. 

Jason Exposto made one of the most memorable wines of 2019 at Futo.

The 2019 Growing Season & Wines

The 2019 Cabernets are big, bold wines with huge fruit and tons of richness. Acids are generally lower than in the 2018s, while the wines have more volume. Texturally, the tannins are often quite present, which gives the wines a good bit of energy.

Last year I wrote “What I remember about 2019 is a pretty even vintage, with a few heat events that were not severe. There was some rain in May, but based on the wines I tasted, that does not appear to have been problematic. Yields were high, so much so that sellers of fruit were looking for buyers at the last minute, in the middle of harvest. It was a buyer’s market as prices plummeted. Harvest took place under the threat of planned power outages. Following the 2017 fires and damages well into the billions, PG&E, the local utility, informed businesses and residents they would cut power as preventive measure if winds were deemed to be too strong. So, in the middle of harvest, which also happens to be peak tourist season, power was shut off. No power means no picking, because sorting tables and other equipment can’t be operated. I was frankly surprised to see how many elite wineries (and hotels) did not invest in generators following the 2017 fires. After the devastation of 2020, I find it hard to be too critical, but it seems pretty apparent that energy independence is absolutely essential today. That is especially true for wineries that are at the upper end of the price spectrum.

I saw things in 2019 I have never seen before in Napa Valley. Lines around the block at gas stations in Napa, for example. I returned from my tastings one evening to find the stoplights out on Highway 29 and saw businesses closed and lights out on Main Street in St. Helena. In the field, bursts of heat in October forced winemakers to move pick dates forward at the last minute while they also dealt with power outages and the threat of fires.

With all of that as background, the 2019s I have tasted so far are fabulous. The wines feel like they have a little more energy, power and depth than the 2018s. I imagine much of that has to do with smaller berries and higher skin-to-juice ratios. That extra kick of late heat seems to have given the wines just enough added concentration to fill out their frames. Acidities, though, are on the lower side, so the perception is of wines that are both rich and energetic. In some ways, 2019 reminds me of 2010, but not as extreme. Winemakers generally describe the wines as extracting easily, the sign of a vintage that has a lot of natural richness.”

The stunning Sacrashe plateau above Rutherford is shared by Hall, Sloan and a handful of other wineries that source fruit here.

Back then, I thought 2019 might surpass 2018, but today, things look different, for several reasons. The first is that the 2018s keep getting better. That’s pretty remarkable for a vintage that looked a bit light at the outset. The 2018s have bright acids and perfectly ripe tannins. It is an extremely consistent vintage, as can be seen by the quality of the entry-level Cabernets. Two thousand-eighteen is also a very strong year for the late pickers, as those wines have plenty of both richness and energy.

By comparison, the 2019s have generally lower acids and tannins that are a bit more present. My impression is that the late-season heat (which 2018 did not have) resulted in a period of slightly uneven ripening that left wines with tannins that are bit coarse. At the high end, that is not much of an issue. Indeed, the best 2019s are positively thrilling. Those big tannins take the place of acid in giving the wines energy. But quality in 2019 is less consistent across the board. That can be seen in the entry-level bottlings, which as a group, are not as exciting as the 2018s. Many of the riper wines, the best of which are so exciting in 2018, feel a bit heavy and less interesting in 2019. There is less focus and delineation. Again, the late heat was penalizing. This is why many of my tastings that year around harvest were moved without much notice. Fruit had to come off.

Last but certainly not least, it is pretty clear that in some cases producers bottled more 2019 wine than they might have otherwise, knowing they would have very little or no 2020 to offer. I can’t blame anyone for making that decision, especially in light of how devastating 2020 was. At the same time though, that choice does impact the overall quality of the wines and the vintage.

At the end of the day, a comparison of 2018 and 2019 in Napa Valley is a first world problem. Most producers would kill for back-to-back vintages like these. But for the discerning reader and wine lover, the differences are there, and they are significant, just as they are in any field where passionate consumers are energized by gaining a deep understanding of the finer points that ultimately drive quality.