Montecillo 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon
Montecillo is the kind of vineyard where history settles into every stone and slope. There’s a quiet intensity to its red volcanic soils and terraced rows, something you sense as you walk among the old Cabernet vines perched high above the valley.
Guided by our understanding of Montecillo’s rocky site and its inherent tannin structure, we apply a gentle and precise approach in the cellar to express the vineyard’s true historic character.
Montecillo is, very simply, a Grand Cru site. The Moon Mountain District is so magical because of how dramatically different the wines are from different sites. Montecillo creates wines of precise structure, waves of unfolding and seductive complexity, and tremendous length. The penetrating intensity stays with you long after you've swallowed the wine, the hallmark of great wines.
In 2022 we had a single Cabernet block. Grapes were hand-harvested at optimal ripeness and carefully destemmed to preserve whole berries and minimize oxidation. The must was gravity-transferred into open-top fermenters, chilled to 50°F for a five-day cold soak to enhance color and flavor extraction. Fermentation began naturally with native yeasts as the temperature gradually rose, lasting about 15 days.
Following our minimalist approach, throughout fermentation we managed extraction with gentle punch-downs and selective pump-overs, balancing structure with elegance. Toward the end, light “cap wetting” ensured complete sugar conversion and subtle flavor extraction during post-fermentation maceration.
After fermentation, the wine was drained, and the remaining skins gently pressed to capture final flavor components. Combined free-run and press wine settled for 36 hours before transferring into French oak barrels (40% new) for 12 months of aging. The wine then matured for nine months in a 2,000L Austrian tight-grain oak cask (foudre) to develop complexity and balance. Finally, the wine rested for one year in bottle to harmonize before release, delivering a wine of purity, precision, and a true sense of place. Already showing beautifully, we cannot wait to see this wine develop over the coming decades.
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Reviews
" Named for the property, the 2022 Montecillo has a light wild edge that adds a good level of character to the wine, with minty wild herbs, lavender perfume, pine needles, and cassis. Full-bodied, it’s quite a jump above the other Far Mountain wines in this vintage and was the highlight of this tasting. It’s gorgeously built, with velvety richness covering its more mountainous earth notes, and it has fantastic evenness and freshness, with a great sense of place. I highly recommend that readers check out this wine. Drink 2025-2050."
- 97 points, Jeb Dunnuck
"Beautiful forest aromas beguile from the Far Mountain Montecillo Cabernet, perched nearly 2,000 ft (600m) along the ridge that divides the Napa and Sonoma appellations. Bergamot and fir tips, wild blue alpine berries, a touch of forest floor, and a bassline of gorgeous sweet violets. The palate is subtle and beautifully integrated. Sweet huckleberries, pine sap, mint leaves, and a dash of wild alpine herbs. This is a Cabernet of place, refinement and elegance."
- 95 points, Decanter