2019 Tesseron Estate Pym-Rae

Alfred Tesseron (from Château Pontet-Canet in Pauillac, Bordeaux) was looking for a special terroir outside Bordeaux to work with. He went looking for a place where the grape varieties he was familiar with from Bordeaux and specifically for a place where these grapes were at their best. He found that place in the originally volcanic and 500 meter high Mt. Veeder in Napa Valley. Tesseron came across the 29-year-old vineyard of actor Robin Williams, who had died two years earlier. Tesseron bought the vineyard in 2016 and named the project Pym Rae: the name Williams had given the vineyard, named after the (pet) names of his children. Williams had never made wine from this vineyard, but Tesseron saw its great potential. The vineyard is now worked in the same biodynamic way as at Château Pontet-Canet and with the same precision and dedication.

The Tesseron Estate Pym-Rae is a blend of mainly Cabernet Sauvignon supplemented with Merlot and Cabernet Franc. In the glass, this top Napa has a deep garnet purple color and reveals wonderfully scented notes of candied violets, wilted roses, damp earth and black tea over a core of red and blackcurrants, black cherries and warm blackberries plus a hint of cigar box and camphorsuckle. Medium to full-bodied with a rock-solid fruit structure on the palate, fine-grained tannins that beautifully support the elegant red and black fruit layers and end very long and very perfumed.

This Pym-Rae gives aromas of flowers, berries, plums and cocoa. It is full-bodied with compact fruit and fine tannins giving it a suppleness and finesse, yet very structured and long. The wine is aged in 55% new French barrels and 45% concrete eggs for 18 months. The wine consists of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Cabernet Franc and 5% Merlot.