Pas de Cheval Prelude Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville 2019

Often the winemakers and vintners we feature are forging a new path for themselves, having found a second passion with wine later in life.  Those vintners will usually discover the world of wine after successful professions in the creative world.  Artists can recognize that the fabric of winemaking has some of the same thread running through it as music, painting, or sculpting have.  This notion rings especially true for Vanessa Conlin, Master of Wine and Owner of Pas de Cheval wines.  Her debut trilogy of wines showcases Napa Valley Cabernet in an almost melodic progression from graceful Oakville fruit to the powerful fruit of Howell Mountain.  Pas de Cheval’s “opening number” is the 2019 Prelude Cabernet and will have you at the edge of your seat, ready for the show!

Passion and determination shaped Vanessa’s initial work as an opera singer, with a thriving career that had her singing in opera houses worldwide.  Traveling for performances meant visiting many of the world’s best wine regions and these travels sparked her interest in wine.  Vanessa took classes to learn more about this intriguing beverage during her time off stage and eventually leaped from music to wine in 2009. After a few years working as a buyer in New York City, she knew making a serious career out of wine meant moving to Napa and chasing this new adventure wholeheartedly.  When Vanessa pursues a passion, she goes all in.  Less than a decade after making the cross-country trip to Napa, she earned her Master of Wine certification, becoming the 52nd MW in the entire United States.  For those unfamiliar with the MW program, it is the highest-level certification through the Wine and Spirits Education Trust (more commonly known as WSET).  MW candidates focus on education and research within the wine industry versus the more well-known Master Sommelier service-oriented certification.

Having studied for years in Napa and worked at top wineries like Arietta and Dana Estate, Vanessa established a definitive idea of the wine she hoped to make one day.  With that idea in mind, when it came time to choose a winemaker for her debut wine label, Vanessa knew Maayan Koschitzky had to be it.  As Director of Winemaking for Atelier Melka and right-hand man to Philippe Melka, Maayan knows his way around Cabernet and Napa Valley.  In French, Pas de Cheval means “step of the horse” and is a ballet move that mimics the formidable yet elegant way a horse lifts its foot before moving.  For Vanessa, this sensibility resonated with Maayan’s approach to making wine. Moreover, it demonstrated what she loves most about the grape’s potential; with Cabernet, it’s all about achieving an equilibrium between delicate, aromatic fruit and complex, compelling depth.

The 2019 Pas de Cheval “Prelude” debut is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon fruit from the red volcanic soils in the heart of Oakville.  Maayan selected four different coopers (Taransaud, Ermitage, Sylvain, and Demptos) to age the Prelude.  70% of the barrels were new, and the wine aged for 20 months before bottling.   In Vanessa’s words the Prelude is “Equal measures of perfectly ripe fruit and savory herbal flavors are bound by supple, tongue-coating tannins.  Highly concentrated at its core, this is a robust and highly complex wine, seamlessly integrating notes of blackberry, cassis, licorice, tilled earth, mint, and herbes de Provence.” This bottle is wine’s equivalent of a chart-topping hit and a great start to what will be a beautiful evolution of Pas de Cheval wines this summer.