2019 Caravina Cabernet

Tasting Notes

The nose of this wine is fruit-dominant with a dense core of cassis, dark plum and lavish cherry pie, finishing with just a trace of cherry cola. True to its rustic hillside origins, the 2019 Caravina paints a savory yet smooth umami experience on your palate. Silky caramel, toffee, and black tea expose its mastery of tannins, allowing this wine to linger on your palate. Graceful and medium-bodied, this wine is perfect to drink now and also has at least fifteen years of cellaring potential.

Ratings

Jeb Dunnuck (March 2022) 93 points
“The base 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Caravina is a terrific value and I’d be happy owning bottles. Cassis, violets, tobacco, new leather, and even a touch of salty mineral emerge from the glass, and it’s medium to full-bodied, round, textured, and balanced on the palate. It will keep nicely for 10-15 years, although there’s no need to delay gratification.”

Antonio Galloni, Vinous (Oct. 2021) 94 points
“The 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate Caravina is a knock-out in 2019. Rich and ample, with terrific vibrancy, the Caravina captures all the best qualities of the year. Crushed rocks, tobacco, red cherry fruit, leather, scorched, earth and dried herbs lend notable complexity throughout. This deceptively mid-weight Cabernet packs a ton of punch. I loved it.”

Vineyard Notes

Seavey’s 21^st vintage, single-vineyard Caravina Cabernet comes entirely from grapes grown on the steep hillside blocks of our estate, which we have been farming for over forty years. 2019 started with a wet winter carrying through to late spring, allowing for a lavish canopy. Summer was met with canopy management to allow the sunshine from our high degree days to reach the berries, advancing ripening. The growing conditions continued with steady sun during the day and cooler marine influences at night. The result speaks through the freshness of this vintage. Our Cabernet grapes were harvested in late September and early October.

Production Notes

Following classic Bordeaux methods, we separately harvest and vinify each vineyard block. In the cool of the early morning, grapes from our 2019 harvest were promptly de-stemmed, and the uncrushed berries were gently transferred into fermentation tanks to carefully manage the tannins and resulting wine texture. Following whole-berry fermentation, the wine was aged in French oak barrels (41% new) for 20 months before bottling in June 2021.

100% ESTATE GROWN, PRODUCED & BOTTLED, NAPA VALLEY AVA