Louis M. Martini, Napa Valley, Cabernet Sauvignon, 2018

Napa Cabernet is one of Life's Real Pleasures. 

This is a red wine that will satisfy and fulfil all concepts of what wine can achieve - it is round and smooth, rich and deep, yet balanced and refined with complex flavours and a very long, ample and mouth-coating finish. Flavours of blackcurrant coulis, blueberry compote and vanilla ooze out of the glass from the moment it is poured, followed by the palate which is unashamedly charming, attractive and very, very easy. 

This is the result of about a century of practical research in the many subzones of the Napa Valley in which the Martini family have been working toward a singular goal: top-quality Cabernet Sauvignon. It is made from old vines grown in several top-end Napa Valley vineyards such as Cypress Ranch, Sun Lake, Stage Coach and Sage Canyon. 

Louis M. Martini grew up in Genova, in the Italian region of Liguria. He left when he was 12 in 1899 to join his father in California, who was already making wine outside San Francisco. Learning on the job, Louis M. made his first wine under his father's gaze at the age of 18 and was promptly sent back to Italy to study winemaking in a more official context. In 1922, when he had returned to California, he set up the L.M. Martini Grape Products Company, which was forced to make "Sacramental Wine" during the Prohibition era.

Once that policy was binned, he was among the first winemakers to seriously seek out the best possible sites and clones for Cabernet Sauvignon production in Napa. These sites are still among the best and most respected for Cabernet Sauvignon in the world: it really is that good. 

The sense of family and tradition is writ large over the story - three generations were involved in the promotion of Napa as a whole, receiving countless honorary awards for their work, while pioneering techniques in vineyard and winery ranging from the use of frost-repelling wind turbines to cool fermentation tanks to gently limit the alcohol levels in their wines. Along the way, growth partnered progress and the expansion to Sonoma and Alexandra Valley regions for more specific sites where Cabernet Sauvignon was grown with serious character. This of course wasn't to lessen the output but to show other, varied sides to the potential of the grape and region. In fact, the search for high quality has been even further intensified since the winery was sold to long-standing friends and neighbours, the Gallo family. 

Now, when most people think that Gallo have any part to play in a winery, eyes roll and we're often set for an inevitable slide in standards, increased production and a generally puffed-up brand message with inadequate quality. However - these families have history that stretches back pre-Prohibition and whatever was said and done during the sale of the business has left the Martinis with an even better future than before! Quality has increased by the addition of an on-site micro-winery, that is dedicated to specific fermentations of single lots from the vineyards that they own, forming a sort of 'cru' system for the winery. And the success? Well, just after a decade of its creation the Lot #1 Cabernet Sauvignon scored one of the only ever 100 point ratings from Parker. Not bad going...

Decanter Magazine, often more conservative, gave this seduced review: 

"A Napa Cabernet nose to revel in: all dark, glossy, sweet ripe cassis enrobed in mocha oak. Full and intense, with black fruit that’s ripe yet not overdone, a touch of leafiness that adds an extra dimension of freshness. Fine-grained tannins are tightly woven but not constricting. Serious, but with a huge Napa Valley smile." 92 points