VHR, Vine Hill Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon 2008-2019
BY ANTONIO GALLONI |
Over the last decade or so, the VHR, Vine Hill Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon has established itself as one of the elite wines of Napa Valley. This retrospective, back to the inaugural 2008, provided a fascinating opportunity to check in on the early vintages and revisit more recent releases that complete the arc of the last dozen years here.
I still remember the first time I tasted the VHR Cabernet. It was at the end of a long day of tastings with broker Kimberly Jones. It was my first big trip to Napa Valley after Robert Parker had asked me to take over the coverage of these wines from him. I must have tasted 150 wines. The kitchen counter was literally covered with bottles. John Kongsgaard and Andy Erickson were among the winemakers who stopped by to present their latest releases. It was an incredible day.
I find large tastings like this energizing because they really focus the palate. “I have something new to show you,” Jones said. I was floored. The wine was tremendous. Even after everything I had tasted, this wine, the wine in my glass, was so obviously special, so obviously unique. It was the 2008 VHR Cabernet Sauvignon.
Vine Hill Ranch is one of the most distinctive vineyards in all of Napa Valley. Bruce Phillips and his wife, Heather, are the stewards of land that has a rich heritage going back all the way to the 1880s, the very early days of viticulture in the Napa Valley. Historical records show that wine grapes from this site were sold to a number of buyers, including Hamilton Crabb’s To Kalon Wine Company. Vine Hill Ranch is also one of very few properties that sells fruit to other wineries and also produces an estate Cabernet Sauvignon under the same name. The history of the site and wine are inextricably linked. Here, we will explore both.
A remarkable retrospective of the VHR Cabernet Sauvignon back to the inaugural 2008.
A Rich Family Heritage
Bruce Phillips’ great, great grandfather, Robert Muirhead Hamilton, a native of Scotland, travelled to California in the 1840s as part of the Gold Rush. Unfortunately, the promise of discovering significant wealth never materialized. But Hamilton did meet Livingston Low Baker. Together they formed Baker & Hamilton, and built a hugely successful catalog business that sold tools and other supplies to the emerging agriculture sector. As a brief aside, the Phillips family’s new Baker & Hamilton Cabernet Sauvignon pays homage to this early chapter of their history. Hamilton’s son, Alec, married Grace Spreckels. Their daughter, also Grace, married Bruce Kelham, and that is where the modern-day history of Vine Hill Ranch begins.
Over the last decade or so, the VHR, Vine Hill Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon has established itself as one of the elite wines of Napa Valley. This retrospective, back to the inaugural 2008, provided a fascinating opportunity to check in on the early vintages and revisit more recent releases that complete the arc of the last dozen years here.
