2001 Cain Concept is the fourth vintage of our “new” Cabernet blend. Crafted from fruit grown in selected benchland and hillside vineyards in the Napa Valley proper, the wine is the mirror image of our mountain-grown Cain Five.

In Concept, we emphasize the lush fruit and supple tannins of grapes grown on the alluvial fans lining the edges of the Napa Valley and the hillsides of Carneros. The Cabernet Sauvignon is grown in vineyards on the famed Rutherford Bench, and on the outfalls of York Creek and Conn Creek west of St. Helena. The Cabernet Franc is from the cool climate and sandy soils of Napa’s Carneros region.

In the heart of the Napa Valley, the deep, well-drained and gravelly soils of the Georges III Vineyard and the Tokalon Vineyard hold the natural vigor of Cabernet Sauvignon in check. Here, the warm days and cool nights of the valley’s benchlands bring the full fruit flavors and aromas of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot to their full potential. These two vineyards—in Rutherford and Oakville respectively—constitute the majority of the 2001 Concept blend. For Cabernet Franc, we turn to Carneros. The extended hang-time needed to ripen Truchard Vineyards’ Cabernet Franc in the cool Carneros region intensifies its color and varietal character.

Our winemaking program is simple: hand picking, gentle destemming, fermentation by native yeasts, judicious maceration, and manual pressing. The wine completes malolactic fermentation in the barrel, is blended in the summer following harvest, is racked barrel-to-barrel, is fined with egg white, and is bottled without filtration. The 2001 Concept spent about 19 months in French oak barrels, 65% of which were new.

This combination of vineyard locations, weather conditions, winemaking practices, and the blending of complementary varietals produces a complex wine with ripe plum and coffee aromas and sweet soft tannins.