Despite a second consecutive year of drought, and nerve-racking memories of some similar challenges in 2015, the 2021 Napa Valley growing season produced what are proving to be great wines. Yields were tiny for the most part, because many vineyards just didn’t have the water resources to develop the full canopy necessary to ripen a typical load of fruit. You really had to be paying attention to get fruit to the finish line in good shape, but the reward was excellent quality across the board: small berries teeming with tannin and flavor.
The lack of groundwater to mitigate irrigation was naturally a chief concern. The Policy Estate Vineyard fared the best of the three Pulido~Walker estate properties in this respect. As a valley floor site, it doesn’t experience the runoff we see in hillside locations, and the vines here are more mature, with more developed root systems. Additionally, 2021 highlighted a significant difference between cane-pruned and cordon-pruned vines. The Policy Estate Vineyard is cordon pruned, and those vines tend to warehouse more resources, giving them an advantage in challenging years.
For these reasons, the vineyard canopy wasn’t greatly diminished in 2021 and yields were only 5 to 10 percent lower than historical averages. Seemingly unfazed by growing conditions and with our continued focus on farming improvements, this vineyard continues to amaze us, producing better and better wines every year.
Winemaking & Tasting Notes
Made entirely from Clone 7, the 2021 Pulido~Walker Policy Estate Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon occupies a beautifully complex arena that is somewhat atypical for this area of Yountville. But this wine is full of surprises.
A mix of red and black fruits is here in equal proportion. The palate has a density that doesn’t translate as heaviness; it’s impactful, and then lithe, almost ethereal. The wine sits on the palate in an exceedingly pleasant way. It is not an over-extracted sledgehammer of a wine—it simply checks every box on the list of what you’re looking for in a Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.
Pulido~Walker Policy Estate Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon intends to keep on amazing us, it seems. Just when we think this wine has reached the pinnacle of expression, it gains a higher peak. Past vintages are aging incredibly well, but there’s no reason not to open a bottle upon release and have fun with it.
Thomas Rivers Brown, Winemaker
Data
Estate Grown
Varietal: 100% Cabernet Sauvignon
Clone: 7
Aging: 20 months in 100% French oak (90% new barrels)
Barrel Coopers: Baron, Darnajou, and Taransaud
Alcohol: 14.7% by vol.
Titratable Acidity: 5.3 g/L
pH: 3.9
Bottling Date: May 2023
Production: 205 Cases
Site
Appellation: Yountville, Napa Valley
Acreage: 9 acres between the Mayacamas and Vaca mountain ranges, on State Lane north of Kapscándy Family Winery
