2021 VHR Cabernet Sauvignon Vine Hill Ranch

Community Tasting Notes (6) Avg Score: 98 points

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  4/16/2024 - sfwinelover1 Likes this wine: 98 Points

  First wine poured for us, I believe, along with a wonderful spread of charcuterie, by the supremely hospitable Bruce, and like the ‘21 Bella Oaks, it was immediately singing. Perfectly balanced vibrant mixed black berries and currants, wet earth, forest floor, rocky minerality, slate and probably at least a half dozen other notes I could have picked up in a more contemplative setting (that is, one with fewer wine bottles in front of me). The balance and texture here are stunning, the structure steadfast but not formidable. I didn’t find the ripeness TXRDW did, and this wine was, for all of its fulsomeness, very impressively lightfooted, a quality I’ve complimented in Harlan, Prom, Cardinale and Lafleur. I can’t recall how long Bruce aerated this, but if you follow his protocol, you won’t regret drinking it now, even if it does it hit a slightly higher gear. This was my first taste of a VHR, although I have a couple of bottles of the ‘16, 1 each of the prior vintages, and while it’s fairly unusual that I buy multiple vintages without trying, this makes me confident I’ll be rewarded here. 98+. One final note: if I’m recalling the tasting accurately and this was first, it was by a solid margin the standout wine, which is, in my experience, an unusual way to organize a tasting (of course, that statement is solely my opinion), as I’ve most often seen producers try to send you out on their best foot. While everything else ranged from very good to excellent, nothing compared to this, and an impression of “best for last” might have made this very generous tasting even better.

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  3/29/2024 - Ampequot Likes this wine: 99 Points

  Spring Break in Napa -- Who Needs Cancun?; 3/22/2024-4/27/2024 (Oakville, St. Helena, Calistoga): Decanted for roughly 3 hours prior to our arrival. Wow.
  
  More black fruited with a slightly more intense profile, though I’m sure some of that could be attributed to the comparative youth. Still, surely more sourced from blocks 1 and 6, both of which lie at the western borders of the site.
  
  Top notes of black fruit with great secondary notes of earth, loam, shale and I’m sure complexity beyond my appreciation in that moment.
  
  The best justice I can do is to describe it as as tasting of the forest that sits just behind blocks 1 and 6 on the site. Really something special. 99

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  3/22/2024 - TXRDW Likes this wine: 98 Points

  Motivated by MJP I decided to also pull the cork on one of these wines before I lay the rest down. My initial impression was the amazing freshness and purity of the fruit along with the precise level of acidity in the wine. Then came the tannins, wave after wave throughout a long and meandering finish. Such finesse! The fruit was dark, biting and ripe, quite frankly more than a bit too ripe at this stage. But the stuffing and structure was impeccable. In my opinion this bottle was years away from being enjoyable to drink, but the wine geek in me wanted to establish a baseline. Keeping in mind it is often difficult to pick up all of the subtle nuances of a truly great wine this early on, I would have to conclude that the 2021 VHR is the Picasso of Bruce’s offerings to date. Definitely a “hold” for now, probably best approached in five or more years.

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  3/21/2024 - MJP Hou TX Likes this wine: 98 Points

  2021 happens to be one of the most unique expressions of Vine Hill Ranch I've had the pleasure of opening at such a young stage. Truly remarkable focus, tension and the tannins are just different. Fantastic acidy to back it all up. With extended aging, this might be the finest VHR to date.
  
  Note, this is not offering the pure joy of 16 at an early stage but you can tell this has all the verve to go the distance and be king of the hill.
  
  Francoise really made one heck of a wine in 2021.
  
  Kill one early and hold the rest.
  
  98++

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  3/7/2023 - WineBurrowingWombat Likes this wine: 97 Points

  Testing (or tasting) out a couple of '20s (Napa): Nose of bright and intense cherries with a touch of cranberries, very fruit forward at the moment due to youth. However, the fruit darkens with time and loses some youthfulness within an hour, and starts walking the line between being a brooding beast and energetic elegance.
  
  On the palate were fresh, bright red fruits with a dark intensity. A bit of dark iron, spiced oak, bitter minerals, steeped tea. Just like the nose, darkens into a darker fruit, deeper earth and some graphite.
  
  This tastes much more familiar with what I'm used to from VHR. Not the final blend as this was a barrel sample, but this tastes pretty damn good already. Will be curious to see how they will finish this out.

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