Sometimes it’s good to get away from Graileys for a little rest and relaxation every now and then. Where do you go during these brief periods: Well Napa Valley of course! My wife Jennifer and I went off on our Napa pilgrimage earlier this month on a mission to taste the best wines from the heralded 2012 vintage. Needless to say we were not disappointed! Our journey started deep in the heart of the Oakville Ridge at one of my favorite producers, Futo Winery. When you take a left across the street from the Oakville Grocery headed west on the Oakville Grade you are in a sweet spot for the Napa Valley. In these hills are Harlan, Bond Vecina, Vine Hill Ranch and Far Niente – there is a forward richness and generosity to Oakville with supple tannins that make this area so loved. Since the beginning of Futo in 2003, the wines have impressed all who have had the pleasure of drinking them. The 2004 got 99 from Parker and the winery was on the map. I have a feeling it will be rescored as 100 Pointer. Even the 2011 from Futo scored 97 from Parker and was called the success of the vintage. This place is special and I wanted to know why.
This property was called Oakford Vineyards and Bob Levy once made wines here. The 1987 that we drank 2 years ago was still awesome in my opinion. Tom Futo bought the vineyard in 2003. Futo makes a “second wine” called Futo OV as a reference to Oakford and it has always been the best “second label” in Napa. These beautiful grapes grown on well drained soils here are managed in the most attentive and innovative ways. The Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc from this site are excellent. The site is warm and ripening fruit is never an issue. To manage heat the winery has installed individual misting devices on the trellising posts to lower the ambient temperature of the fruit zone on the plant. They keeps the grapes at 88 to 92 degrees in the middle of the summer by doing so. That is not to say they over-water the vines. They dry farm the vineyard except for two waterings last year! The 2011 Futo OV is the last of this amazing buy from Oakville for only $125. It tastes better than some $250 wines. In 2011 Tom Futo took the chance to buy an old vine hillside Cabernet Sauvignon vineyard in the heart of Stags Leap District. The 2012 vintage gave birth to two of the best new wines from Napa in some time: the 2012 Futo OV-SL - a blend of their Oakville and Stags Leap Cabernets that literally tastes like young Mouton! Find this wine and buy a case to drink for 30 years! You will be happy. The 2012 Futo 5500 SLD Cabernet Sauvignon is like Shafer Hillside on steroids and will be talked about for years to come. We had the pleasure of drinking the 2012 Futo OV-SL during our visit. It was dark, voluptuous and beautifully textured in the glass. Mocha, espresso, dark red cherries, plums, menthol and cedar are some of the notes that take shape as this radiant, inviting wine shows off its considerable personality. It was extremely sexy in the glass with Pauillac personality and Napa punch. Wow!
Production at this Harlan lookalike facility is tiny and only 100% new French oak is used. The day we visited they had just bottled the stunning 2013 vintage of all three wines. What you see in the picture above is the total production! What a treat from a winery that I am now putting in my top 5 wines in Napa list. Let me know if you need any help finding any of this great wine – It was the first of 5 truly amazing wineries that Jenn and I visited. I cannot wait to do it again in 2013! Cheers!