2016 Crocker & Starr Malbec/Cabernet Casali 5th Edition

The 2016 Malbec Casali 9, which includes 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, comes from the estate Crocker Vineyard in St. Helena and spent 20 months in 70% new French oak. It’s a fine, elegant, medium to full-bodied Malbec that has a juicy, vibrant style in its blue fruits, spring flowers, sandalwood, and violet-tinged aromas and flavors. It’s a beautifully textured, high-quality Malbec to drink over the coming decade. You don’t find too many Malbec-dominated cuvees in Napa, but this is a good one. These releases come from Pam Starr and Evyn Cameron, who own a larger 80-acre vineyard. While they sell most of their fruit, they produce tiny amounts of the Crocker & Starr wines.