1999 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley

Following the recent purchase of 17 adjacent acres, the Prides now have 72 acres planted on their estate atop Spring Mountain straddling the Napa/Sonoma line. Winemaker Bob Foley, who harvests late for maximum ripeness, describes the 2000 crop size as "light, similar to that of 1999." Compared to the fleshy, flashy 1997s, which Foley says are not for long aging, the '99s will age well. "In 2000, people knew how high the sugar levels were, and they were aware of how many days it had been since the flowering," noted Foley. "So when they started to see some shriveling of the grapes they picked, but in many cases it was simply too early to get thoroughly ripe skins and flavors." On my annual visit to this estate, I focused on the '99s, as the 2000s had not yet been blended, and it seemed premature to try to speculate about the final bottlings. But I had an extraordinary tasting of the estate's numerous lots of 2000 cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc and merlot, including some mightily impressive samples from very young vines. The estate has doubled its cabernet sauvignon acreage with new plantings, which will allow production to rise from the 13,000 or so cases produced in 1999 and 2000 to 20,000 within three or four years.

This estate at the top of Spring Mountain (the vines are located on both sides of the Napa/Sonoma line) recently finished an extensive series of tunnels and a new vinification facility, giving it the capacity to expand production to about 18,000 cases. "But the modest fruit set of recent vintages hasn't allowed us to grow beyond 12,000 cases yet," said winemaker Bob Foley, who lost most of the first release of his own Napa Valley Claret (Robert Foley Vineyards) in a major fire last June at the old Hans Kornell facility, where Pride was previously made. Foley has long demonstrated a magic touch with Pride mountaintop fruit, and his performance in 1998, a year that was especially difficult for red Bordeaux varieties grown at high altitude, is nothing short of miraculous. The harvest here began on November 7 and lasted into early December. "We face two challenges at Pride," noted Foley, "keeping the wines bright and keeping them from being hard." All of the Pride reds go into new barrels at the outset, but they don't necessarily remain in new wood during their entire levage said Foley. Foley describes 1999 as "a fun vintage. The berry flavors would have been red rather than black if I had picked the fruit a few days earlier, before it was completely ripe." For the estate's limited reserve bottlings, Foley looks for "large-scaled, round, lusty wines, with big extract and power."

This estate at the top of Spring Mountain (the vines are located on both sides of the Napa/Sonoma line) recently finished an extensive series of tunnels and a new vinification facility, giving it the capacity to expand production to about 18,000 cases. "But the modest fruit set of recent vintages hasn't allowed us to grow beyond 12,000 cases yet," said winemaker Bob Foley, who lost most of the first release of his own Napa Valley Claret (Robert Foley Vineyards) in a major fire last June at the old Hans Kornell facility, where Pride was previously made. Foley has long demonstrated a magic touch with Pride mountaintop fruit, and his performance in 1998, a year that was especially difficult for red Bordeaux varieties grown at high altitude, is nothing short of miraculous. The harvest here began on November 7 and lasted into early December. "We face two challenges at Pride," noted Foley, "keeping the wines bright and keeping them from being hard." All of the Pride reds go into new barrels at the outset, but they don't necessarily remain in new wood during their entire levage said Foley. Foley describes 1999 as "a fun vintage. The berry flavors would have been red rather than black if I had picked the fruit a few days earlier, before it was completely ripe." For the estate's limited reserve bottlings, Foley looks for "large-scaled, round, lusty wines, with big extract and power."