2011 Kathryn Hall Cabernet Sauvignon

The 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon Kathryn Hall’s deep ruby/purple hue is followed by a wine with clean, pure, black currant fruit, medium body, more concentration than most 2011s, good balance, low acidity and ripe tannin. It should turn out to be very good, possibly outstanding. I tasted eight cuvees of 2010 Cabernet Sauvignons from Hall. I will write abbreviated notes on the eight 2012s I tasted, which is a great vintage in Napa. Based on my experience with the Hall wines, they show better from bottle than from barrel samples, always a sign of a high quality winery. All of these wines possess splendid opaque blue/purple colors. A remarkable thing about all of Hall’s 2012s is that they should be accessible when released given the sweetness of the tannins, yet they should have 20-30-year drinking windows. Congratulations to Kathryn Hall. I have been high on her wines since I first tasted them in the offices of David Ramey. It is rewarding to see that she is realizing the enormous potential that accompanied her debut wines. Tel. (707) 967-2626

The 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon Kathryn Hall is a very pretty, expressive wine graced with black currants, plums, mocha, grilled herbs and smoke. Medium in body, the 2011 possesses excellent inner sweetness and density, especially within the context of the year. It is one of the more promising 2011s I tasted.