Description
Larkmead, Napa Valley “Firebelle” Red
Today’s offer isn’t just a coveted bottle from one of Napa Valley’s most historic estates. It’s also a perfectly aged pièce de résistance that’s (1) just now entering its drinking window and (2) set to blow away any Napa fanatic’s sky-high expectations. Larkmead’s 2015 “Firebelle” Red—bursting with luxuriant dark fruits and suffused with a brooding mineral savor only achievable by years of patient aging—represents the peak of pure Napa Valley pleasure.
It’s no surprise: The man who crafted it, Dan Petroski, should be deeply familiar to all SommSelect readers. This former “Winemaker of the Year” recipient is the owner of Massican, a boutique label that exploded onto the scene while he was running Larkmead’s winemaking program throughout the 2010s. Today’s Merlot-driven 2015 “Firebelle” demonstrates the full breadth of his incredible talent—it’s powerful, intoxicating, and tightly packed with deep, velvety textures. While it isn’t cheap, it certainly belongs on the shortlist of Napa establishments that are worthy of your precious “special occasion” budget. We’re also offering the best price in the country. Enjoy up to six bottles.
The Napa Valley is not short on historic estates but few combine historic gravitas with future-oriented vision like Larkmead. Located at the warmer, northern end of Calistoga, vines were originally planted at the estate in the late 1870s by Lillie Coit. Lillie was a San Francisco socialite and lifelong benefactor of the SF Fire Department who, thanks to her wild streak, earned the nickname “Firebelle.” After the Coits sold in 1895, the property managed to survive Prohibition and was eventually sold to the Solari family in 1948. The current generation, Kate Solari Baker and her husband Cam Baker, turned Larkmead from a hidden secret into a world-renowned estate by replanting the entire property and rebuilding the winery from the ground up. They’re also paving the way for Napa’s future; in their three-acre experimental vineyard, they’ve planted 21 varieties like Tempranillo, Freisa, and Touriga Nacional to explore what varieties the Valley might successfully grow given the warming climate. The Bakers spare no expense, going so far as to ferment and age each vineyard block in its own designated vat and barrel.
The winemaker behind this incredible bottle is considered a genuine Hall-of-Fame great at the SommSelect offices. He, too, is a visionary, pioneering not just Mediterranean-styled white wines with his Massican line but also stunning vermouths and beers, and forward-thinking wine writing. Massican, great as his wines are, was actually Dan’s “moonlighting” gig until 2021. Up to that point, his day job was as Larkmead’s head winemaker. There, he charted a new course for the winery, imbuing the wines with an aromatic grace and lightfooted complexity rarely seen in wines from the Napa Valley floor, especially Calistoga. He garnered widespread critical acclaim during his time there and established Larkmead as a must-have in any serious Napa collector’s cellar.
Larkmead’s “Firebelle” is composed primarily of Merlot grown in clay loam soils. The 2015 is made up of 71% Merlot, 21% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 8% Petit Verdot, all aged in 65% new oak for 18 months. It pours an opaque plum purple with ruby at the edges, and announces itself loudly as a top-flight Bordeaux blend from the get-go. Luscious black and blue plums, blackcurrant jam, red cherry, crushed blueberries, cedar, cigar box, fresh leather, pepper, and tobacco all soar from the glass. The palate is full-bodied, simultaneously lush and fresh, with gravelly minerality coming to the fore alongside deep fruit and a fine wash of mouth-coating tannin. Undoubtedly a beast in its youth, at eight years of age, it’s become a genuine marvel of balance and velvet-gloved grace. It’s firing on all cylinders, offering more full-throated pleasure than any Napa drinker could ever ask for. It’s a collectible to pop now and over the next decade. Cheers!
