Spottswoode Cabernet Sauvignon: 2001-2013

Cab-loving Café Vivant guests will recall our collective enthusiasm for Spottswoode.  Bartender, sommelier, Daniel, or myself: if you ask for Napa drinking well and pass us back a closed list Spottswoode is perhaps the likeliest producer to appear. 

I go on considering the 2002 Spottswoode’s modern day reference point, though the 2013 admittedly has plenty of time to close ground.  2005, in that vintage’s silky and mid-weight mode, makes the most stylistically distinct wine on offer (the densely concentrated, distinctly low yield style of 2008 comes closest).  The 2011 remains the most underrated modern Spottswoode and a terrific candidate for near term enjoyment, charming and pure.   

Last words for a Lyndenhurst vertical that will easily approve this cuvée’s reputation for longevity and value.  The 2007, opened recently, would make a well-received grand vin four years in five.