2013 LMV Salon

There is a lot to report on at Larkmead. For starters, the wines have been divided into two ranges. The first set of wines are being sold under the Larkmead Vineyards brand, with the classic white label, and draw from multiple parcels across the estate. The top three wines (Cabernet Sauvignon, Solari and The Lark) have been given new black labels and are marketed under the Larkmead brand. A Cabernet Sauvignon bottling is made under both ranges. Personally, I think the marketing and branding strategy needs a little help. The wines, though, are terrific. Dan Petroski, one of Napa Valley's most talented winemakers, has done a terrific job coaxing the very best out of these sights. Sadly, the world has caught on to quality here and prices are way, way up. Proprietor Cam Baker could have been a bit more gentle with these increases, which are sure to shock the estate's long-time customers. As for the wines, there is not much to say except that Larkmead remains one of the most distinctive sites anywhere in California. The 2014s are the first wines made with the new internal division of parcels and, perhaps for that reason, show a bit more focus as well as finesse. Winemaker Dan Petroski describes 2014 as a vintage that had both longer hang time than usual and that ripened at lower sugars than are the norm here, with less heat at the end of the growing season. The bottled 2013s are as powerful and bombastic as they have always been.

This is a stunning set of wines from Larkmead. The 2012s are big, powerful Cabernets that will require quite a bit of patience. They are among the most structured wines of the year I tasted. The 2013s are even more intense. After a little bit of a hiccup with 2011, the winemaker transition from Andy Smith to Dan Petroski seems to have occurred pretty smoothly. Petroski has a decidedly Old World-leaning palate, which seems very well suited to the kinds of wines that seem to emerge pretty naturally from this historic Calistoga site. Longtime Larkmead fans will note a few changes in the wines, such as a move to make Cabernet Franc an important component in the LMV Salon and the evolution of the flagship Lark to a single-parcel wine, rather than a field or cellar selection. Personally, I very much like what is coming out of Larkmead these days, and that is no way a critique of prior vintages, but rather an observation of what looks like a very bright future here.