Flying LadyNapa Valley Red 2018

We tasted this wine mid-February along with their Spring Mountain District Cabernet Sauvignon. Like many of the 2018 Reds coming from Napa Valley, these wines need at least a good decant or time in the bottle to show their potential. 2018 was an incredible vintage and will stand the test of time and this Napa Valley Red is a prime example. This debut vintage of Flying Lady’s Napa Valley Red is comprised of 85% Spring Mountain District Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Cabernet Franc from a grower vineyard on the Napa Valley floor. It combines the complexity of Spring Mountain Terroir with valley floor fruit to soften the edges, allowing for a really enjoyable wine, even in its young age. This Proprietary Red has a vibrant, inky red, violet color with favors of dark currant, volcanic minerality, and cola. The wine comes on powerful- a hallmark of the warmer climate, lower vine vigor and smaller concentrated berries of Spring Mountain but finishes nicely with playful acidity lending notes of cherry and raspberry. The tannins are complex, but round out nicely with the Cabernet Franc and French oak. Ross Bentley worked nine years at Hundred Acre as their director of winemaking when he got the opportunity to work with this newest winery on Spring Mountain.