Le Pich Cabernet Sauvignon 2020
(Napa Valley, California)

About the Producer:
Purlieu Wines, and their sister label Le Pich, are fairly new Napa Valley luxury producers. The wines are produced crafted with care by the amazing team of winemaker Julien Fayard (he spent five years as the director of winemaking at Phillipe Melka’s, Atelier Melka) and vineyard manager Steve Matthiasson (consultant to a wide array of Napa estates including Araujo Estate, Spottswoode, Chappellet, Hall, David Arthur, Robert Sinskey Vineyards, Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars and Long Meadow Ranch)

Purlieu’s sister label, Le Pich, gets its name from a Wappo Indian term meaning “golden eagle.” They are hunting birds, and you can often spot them above our vineyards as they soar, glide, circle and arc. They are beautiful birds — stately and impressive, but not haughty or boasting, with a nimbleness that’s inspiring. We hope that our Le Pich wines live up to the character of their namesake.

And the objective is always balance: healthy fruit at peak ripeness, with power but also with freshness. With balance comes the capacity for wine to age, fascinate and excite.

The Napa Valley is blessed with a dizzying array of soil strata, microclimates and exposures. We’ve sourced the fruit for our flagship Purlieu, and its sister label Le Pich, from a variety of top vineyard sites throughout the Napa Valley. We rely on our strong relationships with the best growers and our ability to walk the vines daily.

About the Winemaker

Winemaker Julien Fayard has lived in the Napa Valley since 2006, when he and his wife agreed to settle down by “meeting halfway” — between his home in France… and hers in Sonoma. In France, Julien worked in both Provence and Bordeaux, where he defined his core winemaking style at the exalted first growth Château Lafite-Rothschild (he even lived in Lafite’s grand château for a period) as well as at Smith Haut Lafitte. Here in Napa, Julien worked at Quintessa before joining Atelier Melka, where he spent five years as the Director of Winemaking. Working with a variety of clients including Lail Vineyards, Gemstone, Dalla Valle, Julien has been able to further develop his winemaking style.

Notes from the Winemaker:
The 2020 Le Pich Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon delivers brilliant fruit and graceful aromatics wrapped in a seamless satin package. The nose opens with aromas of black cherry, pencil lead and stone. The palate broadens to a lustrous core of ripe boysenberries and blackberries, whose vibrancy gains dimension from the fresh minerality beneath. Full and soft in the mouth, this wine already offers wonderfully silky, mature tannins. Juicy plum and milk chocolate notes develop on the mid-palate and continue through the long finish of black raspberries and mint tea.

88 Points - Vinous Media:
"The 2020 Le Pich Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon delivers brilliant fruit and graceful aromatics wrapped in a seamless satin package. The nose opens with aromas of black cherry, pencil lead and stone. The palate broadens to a lustrous core of ripe boysenberries and blackberries, whose vibrancy gains dimension from the fresh minerality beneath. Full and soft in the mouth, this wine already offers wonderfully silky, mature tannins. Juicy plum and milk chocolate notes develop on the mid-palate and continue through the long finish of black raspberries and mint tea." - Antonio Galloni (Oct 2022)