Burgess Cellars "Contadina" Cabernet Sauvignon 2019
(Napa Valley, California) - [WE 91]

About this winery:
Burgess Cellars has been family owned and creating wines with mountain distinction since 1972 on Howell Mountain in Napa Valley. When founder Tom Burgess purchased the 1870’s era winery in 1972, he established himself as a pioneer of mountain side wineries. Today, the second generation is building on Tom’s legacy. Brothers Steven Burgess and James Burgess took over as President and Vineyard Manager respectively. In 2013, Winemaker Kelly Woods, a UC Davis graduate, completed the new team, and together the trio has fined-tuned the vineyards and cellar to highlight mountain grapes.

The new direction of the estate is taking Burgess Cellars to the pinnacle of Napa Valley wine quality. At almost 1000 feet, far over the valley floor, Burgess produces wines from two estate hillside vineyards, Winery Ranch Vineyard and Haymaker Vineyard. Their hillside grapes tend to be smaller, with more concentrated flavors and tannins, varietal intensity and excellent aging properties.

About this wine:
A Cabernet Sauvignon named for the Italian word for female farmer, Contadina. This is a way of paying tribute to the original Swiss-Italian farming families that first planted the slopes on Howell Mountain to grapevines in the 1870s. Often led by their strong matriarchs, these families laid the foundation for Burgess. Their heritage, tradition, and legacy are carried forward today by our Winemaker Meghan Zobeck.

A structured and elegant Cabernet Sauvignon with aromas and flavors of blackberry and ripe black currants. The lush fruit is brought into balance by high tone herbal aromatics of mint, sage, and sweet tobacco. The distinctively thick-skinned Cabernet grapes provide a long, velvety finish.

90% Cabernet Sauvignon 6% Petit Verdot 4% Malbec
All components fermented separately in stainless steel.
Aged 22 months in 15% new French oak barrique, 85% neutral French oak barrique
Alcohol 14.5%

Ratings & Reviews:

91 Points - Wine Enthusiast:
“Bold, structural and deeply flavored, this Cabernet Sauvignon reveals dark fruits given an herbal lift, cherry tobacco and layers of oak spice. Full bodied with lush tannins, this red wine offers approachability now with the potential to further develop in cellar. A classic steakhouse Cabernet.”