2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate

I continue to be impressed with the wines Rebecca George is making at Kelly Fleming. George has brought a great deal of thought to the property since she arrived in 2011. In particular, the work being done today to achieve ripeness at lower sugars is intriguing given the tendency of vineyards in this sector of Calistoga to produce somewhat unbalanced wines. In 2014, harvest stretched over 30 days, as moderate September weather allowed for relaxed picking in a vintage that produced both high yields and equally high quality. Conditions were more irregular in 2015, and all the fruit was harvested within a seven day window.

Kelly Fleming remains a work in progress, but things are looking up. Fleming's small estate is located at the end of Pickett Road in Calistoga. Araujo Estate and Hundred Acre are some of the neighboring estates. I was quite impressed with the 2014s and 2015s I tasted, which are the first two wines made by new winemaker Becky George, whose resume includes stints at Méo-Camuzet, Williams-Selyem, Marcassin and Schramsberg. Thus far, George's wines show a deft hand and a preference for a more classic, mid-weight style than that favored by Celia Welch, her predecessor here, who was a consultant rather than a fulltime winemaker. Like many of her colleagues, George gave her 2014s a bit more time on the skins than she might have otherwise, as the wines took time to extract. The 2015s I tasted from tank appeared richer in style, but it is very, very early for the just concluded harvest. Most importantly, though, George is surrounded by two of the most brilliant people in Napa Valley; Vineyard Manager Mike Wolf and Françoise Peschon, who makes the Vine Hill Ranch wines in Fleming's winery and who knows this part of Calistoga from her years at Araujo better than just about anyone. Talk about a sounding board. You can't ask for more than that.