Wine reviews
In five or six years, the best wine may well be the prodigious 2012 Cabernet Franc Force de la Nature, a 100% Cabernet Franc from the Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard. This brilliant effort boasts an ethereal personality along with an amazing combination of blue, red and black fruits, an assortment of floral notes, a seamless integration of acidity, alcohol, tannin and wood, and sensational concentration as well as texture. A spectacular red wine, it should drink well young yet age for two decades. The Morlet brothers, Nick, who works at Peter Michael Winery and Luc, who has his own family estate and also works as a consultant, are two of the hot commodities in northern California, both producing world class wines. From fruit purchased from some of the finest Napa Valley vineyards, the Morlet Family Vineyards is making some of the most exciting wines of the region. The Cabernet Sauvignon cuvees range in production from 200 to 1,200 cases, and their newest project, a mindboggling 2012 Cabernet Franc Force de la Nature is likely to be a game changer once it’s released. The 2012s appear to be spectacular efforts. Kudos to Morlet Family Vineyards! - RP
The nearly perfect Cabernet Franc Force de la Nature comes from a parcel of Cabernet Franc vines planted on the gravelly bench of the Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard. This cuvée is only produced in great vintages, which, of course, the 2012 and 2013 are. As with all of Luc Morlet’s wines, there are no acid adjustments, no enzymes and no manipulation. The inky/blue/purple-colored, aromatic 2012 Cabernet Franc Force de la Nature boasts a floral, fullbodied, layered mouthfeel, fabulous intensity and notes of wet rocks, spring flowers, forest floor, blueberries and black raspberries. It is a tour de force as well as a force de la nature from the Oakville Corridor. Consume it over the next 10-20 years. Luc Morlet has a new estate winery located in an old stone building on Route 29, north of St. Helena and across from the Markham Winery. A native of France, Morlet was mentored at Newton Vineyards between 1996 and 2001 by the likes of John Kongsgaard and Michel Rolland. From there, he became the key winemaker at Peter Michael Winery, where he still consults along with his brother, Nicolas. His Sonoma bottlings will be reviewed in the next issue of The Wine Advocate, but these Napa cuvées come from both estate vineyards and purchased fruit (primarily from the Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard in Oakville). All of these Cabernet Sauvignon as well as the Cabernet Franc are fabulous wines. Although they are undoubtedly expensive, they are all at the top end of the qualitative hierarchy in Napa Valley.RP