From the winery:
2019 Rivers-Marie Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley—425 cases, 14.5% alcohol, 50% new oak

The base here is incredibly similar to the 2018 version but what sets it apart is the addition of the Buselli Vineyard from Oakville. We debated for quite some time about bottling this new site separately but, in the end, we felt it wasn’t quite good enough. It was close so it definitely takes the quality of the Napa bottling up a couple notches. It’s in the same neighborhood as Oakville Terraces so here it adds a black fruited streak plus some some crushed rock and white flower notes. The same lots from Panek, Herb Lamb and Oakville Terraces make up the rest of the blend with Panek contributing the fruit, Herb Lamb a top note of varietal herbaceousness and Lore the minerality. There’s plenty of acidity to frame all these different elements and give the wine focus. As we mentioned in the opening, there are no mediocre sites represented in the entire 2019 line up and the appellation wine provides best testament to this fact. We never set out to source appellation quality vineyards. We only want to grab what interests us and then sort through the lots as they develop in barrel. This makes our appellation Cabernet one of the best QPRs in the valley.

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