Tesseron Estate: Pym Rae 2021

Colin Hay om: Pym Rae

(Mount Veeder, Napa Valley; 75% Cabernet Sauvignon; 10% Cabernet Franc; there are just 7.5 hectares of vines here in a property of over 300 hectares, a recipe for natural biodiversity; in effect, 2 separate vineyards, at 500 and 600 metres respectively, so an average altitude of around 550 metres; tiny yields here too and this is entirely ‘dry farmed’, the irrigation was removed on purchase in 2016; aged in a combination of concrete tanks and French oak barrels, mainly new; aged in a combination of new oak (50%) and concrete vats (50%); 15% alcohol; certified organic and biodynamic; the vines are now around 35 years of age; tasted with Noé Tesseron at the offices of their courtier). The 6th vintage produced and the vines now have around 35 years of age. The altitude produces a natural freshness that is rare in the vintage. Bright. Lifted. Very floral. Lavender. A touch of peony and iris. Crunchy in its fruit signature. I love the vivid sensation of rose petals, painted as if by a grand master in still life. The precision grows with each vintage and this is spectacular. It’s very Bordeaux in its style and yet it expresses the Mount Veeder terroir so well. Cedar. A little red liquorice but it’s not dominant. Subtle and gently layered, it’s as if the layers reveals themselves one by one in a gentle cascade – like a slowly descending set of steps. Ample and full in the mouth but always lithe and lifted and aerial. The dry farming gives this a depth and profundity that is rare and that expresses the terroir so brilliantly. A wine that fills out in the mouth as it opens, gathering and gaining in richness and becoming more and more Californian as it does so. But there’s also no escaping the sense that this is built on Bordeaux wine-making principles. I love that combination. This is right up there with Opus One in terms of sheer quality in the vintage.