It’s that time again. I’ve found a wine I think many people here might really enjoying buying. Unlike some past wine recommendations (Seven Stones in 2007, Pott in 2008, Fairchild in 2009, Keplinger in 2010, Greer in 2011, MacDonald in 2013), this recommendation is a “one off” recommendation, rather than a “get on this mailing list now” situation (you will see why, below.) And unlike some past recommendations, is not a “new” name. This more akin to my recommendation in 2012 of the 2010 Beausejour Daffau Lagarrosse.
When I was in Oregon a few weeks ago for the first time, I tried many 2012 Pinots and there were many standouts. I mentioned in my post that there was one wine that was perhaps the “wine of the trip” but I wanted to hold off on discussing it until I learned more about it’s availability and history. Well, I have, and here it is. And it’s not a Pinot.
Tony Soter is a Napa legend. Just as the consulting winemaker craze really took off in Napa, Tony left it all behind to start a Pinot and sparkling wine career in Oregon. My belief is if he had stayed, he would have been the biggest name in the American winemaking scene. Even now, he is among the greats. He was consulting for Dalla Valle, Araujo, Viader and Spottswoode when he stopped consulting in the late 1990s. He also was winemaker for an excellent unhearalded wine out of Bel Air, Los Angeles, called “Moraga” and also did some work for Shafer during their initial rise to prominence. And finally, he owned his own label, Etude.
Tony’s greatest gift, in my opinion, was finding great vineyards. For his own Cabernet at Etude, his sources were Scarecrow, Vine Hill Ranch, Eden Rock (now known as Bond St Eden) and a vineyard directly next to Aida and Panek, named Schoenstein. His 2002 Etude Rutherford Cab is made from Scarecrow’s “Old Men”, and is my wine of the 2002 vintage, alongside Cardinale’s 2002 “Mt Veeder” (RP100pts]. I can only dream of having such a great selection of such fruit for my own wine someday!
Soter also was a driving force behind “heirloom” selections of clonal material, which, since he has left Napa, has become the rage in the Pinot and Cab worlds. Heirloom selections are clones of “old world origin’, sometimes not completely traceable, but most likely linked to pre-phyloxxera Bordeaux and Burgundy. They produce much lower crops but in the mind of many, fruit of much higher complexity.
Tony Soter and his ripe (but not over-ripe) Cabs, as well as his great ability to find amazing sources of fruit, have been a kind of North Star for me and my own Cab, since even before I started making my own wine. His mid-90s Araujos were incredible.
To my knowledge, the last set of Napa wines made by Tony, at Etude, were the 2001 or 2002 vintages. This turns out to be incorrect.
Along with his Pinots and sparkling wines, Tony continued to make a few hundred cases of Cabernet from Napa for his Oregon “Soter” brand. He trucked the grapes up to Oregon and made them for a few additional years, selling them to his mailing list and to a few people out of his tasting room. I had no idea he was doing this and have never seen a review of these wines in the press.
At the end of my tasting at Soter in Oregon, I was asked if I would like to try “something different.” Why not?! So they brought out a bottle of the 2007 Soter Prop Red. I was blown away by it.
The last vintage Tony made of this Cab was the 2007. What timing! 2007 is the last excellent vintage Napa has experienced until the upcoming 2012. And the first one since 2002. He ended on a high note. I guess he just decided to focus on Oregon and his new Mineral Springs property, so he stopped tinkering with Napa.
Technically, there is some 2006 mixed in with the 2007. Such a move is actually not unusual in Napa Cab, but the amount in it exceeds the limits that would legally make it a 2007, which is 5%. Never the less, it is their 2007 version of the “Soter Proprietary Red” and listed as such. It tastes like a 2007 all the way.
There are two vineyard sources for the wine… the Little Creek Vineyard, a “home” 3-acre vineyard he owned in Coombsville, and also a small vineyard in the eastern foothills of St Helena on Crystal Springs Road, not far from Hundred Acre’s “Ark” and Beringer’s “Chabot Vineyard.” He planted them with the help of Mary Hall (Harlan/Bond/Moraga), who is one of my favorite vineyard managers, anywhere. The vineyards are planted with heirloom selections, including Neibaum Coppola #29, Cohn Ranch Old Men (Scarecrow), Eisele (Araujo), Montebello and the older vines at Monte Rosso. Talk about a selection!!!
And this is not just a Cab, but 40% Cab, 40% Franc and 20% Malbec. Meritage wine lovers eat your heart out! Twenty percent Malbec??? Talk about being ahead of the curve! The wine was fermented and then given a month of extended maceration, then aged 30-months in French Oak, 80% new. It has spent the last 4 years ageing in bottle.
When I had the wine in Oregon I was so impressed I could not really trust my experience, so I brought another bottle home and tried it with some board members at a dinner in Napa the other week. I wanted to make sure it was as good as I thought it was, as sometimes one can get carried away while at a beautiful winery site. I actually liked it even better the second time, with food, among other collectors.
Here are my notes combined from two tastings…
2007 Soter Proprietary Red, Napa, $125
Opaque-purple color. Edge of full bodied. Medium tannins and acid. 14.2% alcohol (tastes like about 14.5.) Nose of blackberries, blueberries, with slight notes of cigar box, chocolate, violets and perhaps even a very slight Eucalyptus. Has a slight mineral “iron” edge that reminds me of Beringer’s Chabot, from the same neighborhood. Well-integrated oak that is not intrusive. Super smooth and supremely balanced. Incredible depth, complexity and character that screams Napa, but without any excess. Drinkable now and over the next 10+ years. Tasted twice. One of the half-dozen best Napa Cabs I have ever had from any vintage or source. If someone gave this a perfect score, I might not argue.
98pts
The amount of “winning” here is almost uncountable. Great fruit sources. Legendary winemaker. Last vintage Tony made of his own wine from Napa. Last excellent vintage in Napa until the 2012. Reasonable price for the pedigree. Bordeaux-blend. Already aged for you. Ready to drink now. Will last a long time. And… available. If there is a such thing as a $125 steal, this is it.
You can buy this wine directly on his website, right now. Originally there were 900 cases made, but far less is available at the moment. But there is enough that it should not sell out in a few hours. You don’t have to sit on a waiting list to get it, as you can just go to the site and buy it yourself, as we speak. Make sure they don’t ship it to til the fall though!
I bought a case of this myself, today, fyi. Enjoy!!! Here is the link…
Scroll to the right and you will see a picture of the 2007 Prop Red. Click on it and have fun.
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