Bryant Family - Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 2019 (750ml)
Price: $1115.00
| Producer | Bryant Family |
| Country | USA |
| Region | California |
| Subregion | Napa Valley |
| Varietal | Cabernet Sauvignon |
| Vintage | 2019 |
| Sku | 8296 |
| Size | 750ml |
James Suckling: 99 Points
Subtle and complex aromas of blackcurrants mushrooms bark flowers and fresh herbs. A full-to medium-bodied wine with persistent powdery and polished tannins that give a dense silky texture. Succulent and juicy at the end with almost blood-orange character. Purity and energy. From biodynamically grown grapes. Try after 202
Jeb Dunnuck: 98 Points
More backward and concentrated the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon reveals a dense purple/plum hue as well as a stunning nose of blackcurrants unsmoked tobacco lead pencil and dried herbs. It's rich and full-bodied on the palate has a wonderfully rounded textured mouthfeel loads of Cabernet character ripe tannins and a great finish. This is pure class in Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. It has some up-front charm (as do most 2019s) yet will benefit from 4-5 years of bottle age and cruise for 20-25 years if stored properly. (Drink between 2025-2050)
Vinous: 97+ Points
The 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon is a potent tightly wound wine that will need at least a handful of years to soften. The aromatics alone are captivating. With time the 2019 offers up generous red berry fruit blood orange rose petal dried herbs and crushed rocks all framed by bright saline undertones that give the wine its shape. Just bottled the 2019 shows better with each successive tasting. It's an absolutely brilliant wine by any measure. - By Antonio Galloni on October 2021 These are two absolutely gorgeous 2019s from Bryant (the 2019 Bettina is still in barrel). The 2019s build on the 2018s in their nuance and energy. Bryant under the direction of Bettina Bryant and winemaker KK Carothers is a terrific example of the contemporary style of Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. There is plenty of textural richness and intensity but with greater vibrancy than in years past. It's a style that is so well suited to the estate vineyard and the David Abreu sites where Bryant purchases fruit. KK Carothers is one of the most talented and detail oriented winemakers of her generation.
Wine Advocate: 97 Points
The 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon comes entirely from the estate on Pritchard Hill. It boasts intense aromas of ripe cherries vanilla and mocha with just enough mint sage and bay leaf notes for balance. While it's concentrated and full-bodied it's also not at all over the top with a lush silky mouthfeel moderate tannins and savory counterpoints to the ripe fruit on the long elegant finish. It's a terrific wine one that sidesteps dated stereotypes of California's mountain Cabernets reflecting the modern aesthetic of the current proprietor and winemaker. One of the original "cult" wineries Bryant has evolved as the Pritchard Hill vineyard has matured and the winemaking esthetic has changed. It's still an intense boldly flavored wine?although there are now several iterations?but current vintages seem more elegant than those mid-1990s blockbusters. The Cabernet Sauvignon is all estate-grown sourced exclusively from the 13-acre Pritchard Hill property. The Bettina Proprietary Red Wine blends some lots from that property with grapes grown in several David Abreu vineyards but pitched at a similar level of quality. While on this occasion I found the Bettina to be slightly more complex than the straight Cabernet Sauvignon and I'd encourage readers lucky enough to have them to try them both and draw their own conclusions. The DB4 Red Wine Blend also draws upon the estate vineyard on Pritchard Hill blending it with more Abreu-grown grapes. Marginally less concentrated and complex it provides a more realistically priced alternative and also offers approachability on release. The big news at Bryant is the introduction of the winery's first wine. "There were times" said proprietor Bettina Bryant "when we would sit around wishing we had a complementary white. "KK [Winemaker Kathryn Carothers] and Brad Grimes [Abreu] would regularly disappear to Burgundy" said Bryant. "Then we had a blind Burgundy tasting and both of us landed on the same wine: Domaine Leflaive Chevalier-Montrachet." With that modest target in mind Carothers began searching for a vineyard source one of the stipulations being that she didn't want to have to drive too far. The tiny vineyard selected on the flank of Sonoma Mountain and shaded from much of the day's heat met her other requirement that it be a cool site. Quantities are limited even in the context of a small boutique producer and I suspect that this first vintage (2021) will not be widely available; but if memory serves me correctly there were two barrels of the 2022 in the winery's cellar and maybe three of the 2023. The 2021 is a super wine and future vintages are sure to be in huge demand once word gets out. Published: Jan 31 2024
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