Tasted with Jack over some pre-dinner nibbles. Made by Graeme MacDonald from Ecotone vineyard (former Abreu thorevilos).
Just my opinion, but this wine will shine in 15-20 years. Right now it showed powerful fruit with profound structure and a notable savory earthen character. I would not say it straddles the line between new and old world—rather, it distinctly shows some new world qualities side by side old world qualities. Like one foot on each side of the door.
Wait 5 years on this one. It is a pretty unique wine that shows differently from majority of Napa wines I’ve tried.
VARIETAL COMPOSITION: 83.8% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13.5% Cabernet Franc & 2.7% Petit Verdot
AGING: 20 months in French oak barrels, 85% of which were new
BOTTLING DATE: June 30th, 2021
ALCOHOL LEVEL: 14.6%
PRODUCTION: 307 cases
”Dark ruby color with vivid notes of blueberries, dried herbs, green olive, bittersweet chocolate and hints of tobacco and graphite. The wine is medium-full bodied, expressing savory fruit and graphite that wrap around a fresh mouthwatering finish, with classic precision and structure.”
- Winemaker, Graeme MacDonald
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Had a great lunch with Jack Bittner and agelvis at Cook (great local restaurant in Napa).
Very well built from the former Abreu Thorevilos site (not to be confused with Abreu's new Thorevilos site.) Now called Ecotone. Ecotone is in no man's land; above St. Helena but not in the Howell Mountain AVA. Jack sells fruit to some of the higher end producers (Kinsman Eades, Vice Versa, etc), and make his own juice, 001.
This is a big wine and has a very long life ahead. It was tight at lunch even though Jack double decanted it for hours. It got better in the glass and my final sips were the best. Dark red and black in the glass, still a little primary and built like a brick s**t house. Slight mineral notes, bakers chocolate, nice acidity with a long finish. Stylistically similar to Macdonald which makes sense since they share the same winemaker Graeme Macdonald
My score is a placeholder as this is very well built and will improve with time. Should end up being 97"ish" but right now, it was drinking 95 points.
Splash double decant, followed by a 12-hour decant. Very deep dark ruby color. Blackberry, cassis, anise, baker’s chocolate, and nutmeg meringue. Super smooth, dry palate, with prominent baker’s chocolate and dusty acidity. Grippy tannins on the long finish.
It was a pleasure tasting this unreleased gem with one of the owners (Jack Bittner) and #1WineLover at Cook in St Helena. Graeme MacDonald is the winemaker. This is mostly CS, with a bit of CF and PV. Ecotone is the former Abreu Thorevilos site. 307 cases made.
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Napa 2023 - The Sequel; 8/23/2023-8/28/2023: Lunch with Jack Bittner at Farmstead. Graeme MacDonald’s wine making style on display. Elegant and dare I say restrained in the context of big Napa wines (a good thing in this case). Black raspberry, red raspberry, hint of cola, no showy oak apart from a hint of melted chocolate, nice tannic structure at this stage that really framed the wine. Not a hard edge anywhere even this early. Can’t wait to see what this is like after they really dial in the winemaking. 94 as is, room up to high 90s with more age.
A few days in Napa with fellow CT'r Cristal2000: A new project by Jack Bittner, with Graeme Macdonald as winemaker, the 2019 001 (double-O[oh]-one) will be the inaugural wine from prime plots on the Ecotone site. Jack was gracious enough to meet us for lunch and bring along a bottle of this gem. It’s hard not to draw parallels to MACDONALD since knowing who is the consulting winemaker here, but the 001 has its own unique personality that I can only guess is an expression of the vineyard and Jack’s deft influence over the farming and ultimate production of the wine. It’s a stately and classically regal wine in the sense that it maintains outstanding poise and frame. The dark, asphalt-laced fruit is elevated and layered by flavors of purple plum skin, menthol, herbs de Provence, and gravel. This thing LOVES air, eating O2 like a 1-year-old in a face-full o’ mayonnaise. Allowing it to breathe is like allowing Elton John to play the piano. Expansiveness and succulence on the palate continues to unfold. The tune starts out unpretentious and austere, and then slowly builds and builds, bridging mineral with fruit, tension with accessibility, frame and body with weight and breadth. The finish is stoooopid long and especially refined.
Some new project is the last thing I need in my life, but gosh darn it if I can’t help but jump on the bandwagon and see what adventures lie around the corner with this wine. I’d feel lucky to be part of it, and recommend aficionados try to snatch this up when it makes its rounds; but of course, I’m shooting myself in the foot with hopes of nabbing a decent allocation by recommending others pile on. So, in that vein, don’t buy it. Forget about it. I’ll take it from here :)
In 5-7 (perhaps more like 10) years, this thing will be on fire. It is a wine for the patient indeed, but not without amazing promise right now with some coaxing. This is my kind of juice all day long and a wine that will likely earn an even higher score (perfect score?) down the road. 97-98+ points.
NOTE #1: It’s worth mentioning that we had the 2018 Abreu Thorevilos a few days later; that wine does share some striking similarities with the 2019 001, especially in the minerality department. The dark and cool asphalt profile of the 001 is akin to the Abreu, if but a bit more restrained and chiseled than the 2018 Thorevilos.
NOTE #2: Also worth mentioning, we had the 2019 Vice Versa Mysterons (Ecotone) a few days later as well (alongside the Abreu). To no surprise, Melka’s take on this site with Vice Versa is stylistically more flashy and opulent by comparison, but again, with a beautiful bead of minerality and black fruit that spoke a similar dialect to the Abreu and 001. The Mysterons is more party-ready than the others, so if you wanted to pop one of the three right now, the Vice Versa would be better suited in that regard.
As others mentioned, this is a new project from Ecotone vineyard, which formerly comprised the famed Abreu Thorevilos. They smartly chose Graeme MacDonald to consult on winemaking. Jack was nice enough to give us a preview of the 2019.
For those who have had Thorevilos, this is a slightly more reserved wine, and like MacDonald Cabs will need a generous amount of air to show its best young. Starts with a complex nose of tobacco leaf, menthol, dark flowers and spice box. The palate is powerful but seamless, with exceptional tannin integration. There is a tight core of pure fruit with layers just begging to unfurl. Elegant with lovely nuance and serious length, this shows a ton of promise. I happened to have a little left later the same day, and it was starting to really round into form. Definitely a wine to put on the priority list. 96-97+.
Testing (or tasting) out a couple of '20s (Napa): Aromas of dark earthiness, even some meaty notes with deep, dark and brooding red fruits. Scents of roses wrapped around iron bars, fresh and young tree notes, like a bunch of saplings.
On the palate is a really dark shade of red with a core of black fruits, with a depth of a dark void. Drying oak on the palate with dark bitter minerals, bitter and black graphite, black metal sconces, medieval dungeon vibes in a good way.
Will be curious to see how this evolves. The structure here is towering, just walls of tannin that may need a few years before it starts to deteriorate a bit. 96+
With Jack Bittner at Charter Oaks in St. Helena. The Ecotone vineyard, formerly called Thorevilos and previously managed by Abreu vineyard, is such a compelling site, sitting above the valley but not on top of Howell Mtn and is in a sort of goldilocks elevation for growing grapes. Jack started to manage the site in 2019 when the lease came up in 2018 and could not have picked a better vineyard to start his 001 (double oh one) project. The Ecotone vineyard is also sourced by Vice Versa and Impensata, to name a couple. Jack is solely responsible for all the farming of the vineyard and has sought out Graeme Macdonald of the Macdonald vineyard in Oakville or more specifically as many would call, To-Kalon for the winemaking consulting. Again, he could not have picked a better winemaker to help bring the 001 project to life. From the sounds of it, our group (@WineBurrowingWombat and @Honardoost) were the first to possibly try this new wine in bottle and we thank Jack for his hospitality and his candidness during the tasting. (14.6% alc, 86% CS, 12% CF and 2% PV, 90’s planted vines) The 2019, 001 wine was PnP at the table and we were able to follow the wine for a couple hours in glass and from a carafe. Tons of floral notes, lavender, violets and blue fruits. Hints of bittersweet chocolate and maybe a touch of spice and menthol. There is a good balance to the wine, although I believe this wine is in need of a whole lot of decanting and air at this point. I have a feeling this would have benefited from a longer decant in order to show its best at this very early stage but I will not hold that against this wine because even at PnP, this wine had a purity of fruit and an elegance and power that is indicative of a very very good wine. Great acidity and tannins, indicating a long lived life ahead of itself. This is going to be a great project to follow and I am in it for the ride! 96+ with lots of upside.
4/7/2024 - Rbhan12 Likes this wine: 95 Points
Tasted with Jack over some pre-dinner nibbles. Made by Graeme MacDonald from Ecotone vineyard (former Abreu thorevilos).
Just my opinion, but this wine will shine in 15-20 years. Right now it showed powerful fruit with profound structure and a notable savory earthen character. I would not say it straddles the line between new and old world—rather, it distinctly shows some new world qualities side by side old world qualities. Like one foot on each side of the door.
Wait 5 years on this one. It is a pretty unique wine that shows differently from majority of Napa wines I’ve tried.
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3/22/2024 - pwarms wrote:
SOURCE: Ecotone Vineyard, Napa Valley
VARIETAL COMPOSITION: 83.8% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13.5% Cabernet Franc & 2.7% Petit Verdot
AGING: 20 months in French oak barrels, 85% of which were new
BOTTLING DATE: June 30th, 2021
ALCOHOL LEVEL: 14.6%
PRODUCTION: 307 cases
”Dark ruby color with vivid notes of blueberries, dried herbs, green olive, bittersweet chocolate and hints of tobacco and graphite. The wine is medium-full bodied, expressing savory fruit and graphite that wrap around a fresh mouthwatering finish, with classic precision and structure.”
- Winemaker, Graeme MacDonald
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2/4/2024 - #1Winelover Likes this wine: 95 Points
Had a great lunch with Jack Bittner and agelvis at Cook (great local restaurant in Napa).
Very well built from the former Abreu Thorevilos site (not to be confused with Abreu's new Thorevilos site.) Now called Ecotone. Ecotone is in no man's land; above St. Helena but not in the Howell Mountain AVA. Jack sells fruit to some of the higher end producers (Kinsman Eades, Vice Versa, etc), and make his own juice, 001.
This is a big wine and has a very long life ahead. It was tight at lunch even though Jack double decanted it for hours. It got better in the glass and my final sips were the best. Dark red and black in the glass, still a little primary and built like a brick s**t house. Slight mineral notes, bakers chocolate, nice acidity with a long finish. Stylistically similar to Macdonald which makes sense since they share the same winemaker Graeme Macdonald
My score is a placeholder as this is very well built and will improve with time. Should end up being 97"ish" but right now, it was drinking 95 points.
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1/31/2024 - AGELVIS Likes this wine: 96 Points
Splash double decant, followed by a 12-hour decant. Very deep dark ruby color. Blackberry, cassis, anise, baker’s chocolate, and nutmeg meringue. Super smooth, dry palate, with prominent baker’s chocolate and dusty acidity. Grippy tannins on the long finish.
It was a pleasure tasting this unreleased gem with one of the owners (Jack Bittner) and #1WineLover at Cook in St Helena. Graeme MacDonald is the winemaker. This is mostly CS, with a bit of CF and PV. Ecotone is the former Abreu Thorevilos site. 307 cases made.
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8/25/2023 - Geaux Tigers Likes this wine: 94 Points
Napa 2023 - The Sequel; 8/23/2023-8/28/2023: Lunch with Jack Bittner at Farmstead. Graeme MacDonald’s wine making style on display. Elegant and dare I say restrained in the context of big Napa wines (a good thing in this case). Black raspberry, red raspberry, hint of cola, no showy oak apart from a hint of melted chocolate, nice tannic structure at this stage that really framed the wine. Not a hard edge anywhere even this early. Can’t wait to see what this is like after they really dial in the winemaking. 94 as is, room up to high 90s with more age.
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4/7/2023 - csimm wrote: 98 Points
A few days in Napa with fellow CT'r Cristal2000: A new project by Jack Bittner, with Graeme Macdonald as winemaker, the 2019 001 (double-O[oh]-one) will be the inaugural wine from prime plots on the Ecotone site. Jack was gracious enough to meet us for lunch and bring along a bottle of this gem. It’s hard not to draw parallels to MACDONALD since knowing who is the consulting winemaker here, but the 001 has its own unique personality that I can only guess is an expression of the vineyard and Jack’s deft influence over the farming and ultimate production of the wine. It’s a stately and classically regal wine in the sense that it maintains outstanding poise and frame. The dark, asphalt-laced fruit is elevated and layered by flavors of purple plum skin, menthol, herbs de Provence, and gravel. This thing LOVES air, eating O2 like a 1-year-old in a face-full o’ mayonnaise. Allowing it to breathe is like allowing Elton John to play the piano. Expansiveness and succulence on the palate continues to unfold. The tune starts out unpretentious and austere, and then slowly builds and builds, bridging mineral with fruit, tension with accessibility, frame and body with weight and breadth. The finish is stoooopid long and especially refined.
Some new project is the last thing I need in my life, but gosh darn it if I can’t help but jump on the bandwagon and see what adventures lie around the corner with this wine. I’d feel lucky to be part of it, and recommend aficionados try to snatch this up when it makes its rounds; but of course, I’m shooting myself in the foot with hopes of nabbing a decent allocation by recommending others pile on. So, in that vein, don’t buy it. Forget about it. I’ll take it from here :)
In 5-7 (perhaps more like 10) years, this thing will be on fire. It is a wine for the patient indeed, but not without amazing promise right now with some coaxing. This is my kind of juice all day long and a wine that will likely earn an even higher score (perfect score?) down the road. 97-98+ points.
NOTE #1: It’s worth mentioning that we had the 2018 Abreu Thorevilos a few days later; that wine does share some striking similarities with the 2019 001, especially in the minerality department. The dark and cool asphalt profile of the 001 is akin to the Abreu, if but a bit more restrained and chiseled than the 2018 Thorevilos.
NOTE #2: Also worth mentioning, we had the 2019 Vice Versa Mysterons (Ecotone) a few days later as well (alongside the Abreu). To no surprise, Melka’s take on this site with Vice Versa is stylistically more flashy and opulent by comparison, but again, with a beautiful bead of minerality and black fruit that spoke a similar dialect to the Abreu and 001. The Mysterons is more party-ready than the others, so if you wanted to pop one of the three right now, the Vice Versa would be better suited in that regard.
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4/1/2023 - Cristal2000 Likes this wine: 97 Points
As others mentioned, this is a new project from Ecotone vineyard, which formerly comprised the famed Abreu Thorevilos. They smartly chose Graeme MacDonald to consult on winemaking. Jack was nice enough to give us a preview of the 2019.
For those who have had Thorevilos, this is a slightly more reserved wine, and like MacDonald Cabs will need a generous amount of air to show its best young. Starts with a complex nose of tobacco leaf, menthol, dark flowers and spice box. The palate is powerful but seamless, with exceptional tannin integration. There is a tight core of pure fruit with layers just begging to unfurl. Elegant with lovely nuance and serious length, this shows a ton of promise. I happened to have a little left later the same day, and it was starting to really round into form. Definitely a wine to put on the priority list. 96-97+.
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3/7/2023 - WineBurrowingWombat Likes this wine: 96 Points
Testing (or tasting) out a couple of '20s (Napa): Aromas of dark earthiness, even some meaty notes with deep, dark and brooding red fruits. Scents of roses wrapped around iron bars, fresh and young tree notes, like a bunch of saplings.
On the palate is a really dark shade of red with a core of black fruits, with a depth of a dark void. Drying oak on the palate with dark bitter minerals, bitter and black graphite, black metal sconces, medieval dungeon vibes in a good way.
Will be curious to see how this evolves. The structure here is towering, just walls of tannin that may need a few years before it starts to deteriorate a bit. 96+
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3/7/2023 - bsumoba Likes this wine: 96 Points
With Jack Bittner at Charter Oaks in St. Helena. The Ecotone vineyard, formerly called Thorevilos and previously managed by Abreu vineyard, is such a compelling site, sitting above the valley but not on top of Howell Mtn and is in a sort of goldilocks elevation for growing grapes. Jack started to manage the site in 2019 when the lease came up in 2018 and could not have picked a better vineyard to start his 001 (double oh one) project. The Ecotone vineyard is also sourced by Vice Versa and Impensata, to name a couple. Jack is solely responsible for all the farming of the vineyard and has sought out Graeme Macdonald of the Macdonald vineyard in Oakville or more specifically as many would call, To-Kalon for the winemaking consulting. Again, he could not have picked a better winemaker to help bring the 001 project to life. From the sounds of it, our group (@WineBurrowingWombat and @Honardoost) were the first to possibly try this new wine in bottle and we thank Jack for his hospitality and his candidness during the tasting.
(14.6% alc, 86% CS, 12% CF and 2% PV, 90’s planted vines) The 2019, 001 wine was PnP at the table and we were able to follow the wine for a couple hours in glass and from a carafe. Tons of floral notes, lavender, violets and blue fruits. Hints of bittersweet chocolate and maybe a touch of spice and menthol. There is a good balance to the wine, although I believe this wine is in need of a whole lot of decanting and air at this point. I have a feeling this would have benefited from a longer decant in order to show its best at this very early stage but I will not hold that against this wine because even at PnP, this wine had a purity of fruit and an elegance and power that is indicative of a very very good wine. Great acidity and tannins, indicating a long lived life ahead of itself. This is going to be a great project to follow and I am in it for the ride! 96+ with lots of upside.
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