Detert Family Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville 2021

The Detert family’s long history in the Napa Valley dates as far back as 1953. In that year, the mutual great-grandparents of Detert winemaker Tom Garrett and his cousins Alex and Graeme MacDonald (founders of MacDonald Vineyards) purchased a portion of the historic To Kalon Vineyard along the Western hills of Oakville (at $750 an acre no less). This jewel-box property is an ideal location for grape growing with vineyard blocks built upon an alluvial fan that had eroded down from the Mayacamas Mountains thousands of years prior. As a result, the vines sit on a slightly elevated piece of land above the valley floor on top of four distinctive soils containing alluvial deposits. The structure and composition of these rocky soils dramatically affects the grapes’ character. In particular, the old vines growing on the Detert property struggle to survive and, consequently, produce a smaller crop with significantly smaller berries. This factor results in Detert grapes that are intensely flavored and concentrated with a bouquet of alluring aromas. 

Today, only a small handful of wineries are fortunate enough to grow grapes on the historic To Kalon tract, initially planted in the 1870s. Robert Mondavi still owns the lion’s share of this 600-acre plot, while Opus One has several larger blocks, and finally, world-renowned grape grower, Andy Beckstoffer, manages a portion of the vineyard, selling his fruit at top dollar to myriad winemakers. Finally, the MacDonald brothers tend to less than 15 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon, while their cousin, Tom Garrett, focuses solely on 17 acres of immaculately farmed Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon vineyards. Tom produces these elite wines under his DETERT label…

The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon is a showstopper. Powerful, but elegant. Refined, concentrated and layered with tiers of black cherry, dark chocolate, camphor, mineral, and sage flavors. Very long, complex and seamless in the mouth. A very special vintage of the Detert Cabernet Sauvignon made of 97% Cabernet Sauvignon and 3% Cabernet Franc.