Description
Forman, Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
It would be tone-deaf of me to call a $100+ bottle of wine “cheap,” but I have no qualms saying that this magnificent Cabernet from Napa Valley legend Ric Forman is a steal. My best explanation as to why is Forman’s deep history in the region: He worked his first Napa harvest in 1966 and established his own farmstead winery in 1978, long before the boom in vineyard/land prices that in turn propelled wine prices into the stratosphere. Right now, in this moment, most Cabernets as luxurious and critically acclaimed as Forman’s 2018 are coming in at twice the price, but there’s something even more important going on here: This wine represents one of the most tangible and thrilling links to Napa Cabernet’s “glory days” of the 1970s and ’80s.
This is a wine that combines power and elegance in the manner of the greatest wines of Bordeaux, not an over-extracted monster that’s likely to fall apart in just a few years’ time. Forman’s wines are built to go the distance, despite being sumptuous and inviting in the short term, as just about any major critic will readily attest. His Cabernets have been featured in retrospective “vertical” tastings, including one conducted by Antonio Galloni’s Vinous that went back to 1985 (the first vintage at Forman was ’83). Critic Stephen Tanzer, writing for Vinous, said that “[while] Forman’s Cabernets have always been known for their early sex appeal, as a rule they have aged very gracefully.” Today’s offer is a celebration of consistency, blue-chip terroir, and humility. Take up to six bottles, but do it quickly, because if I know our Cabernet-savvy subscribers, our allocation won’t last long.
[And for those who might want to start a little ‘mini-vertical’ of their own, we have an even smaller amount (just three cases!) of Forman’s 2017 Cabernet. Take up to three bottles here.]
As I’ve said in the past, this wine is what I’d consider a “cornerstone” collectible. Ric Forman’s wine career started in the late-1960s and included well-received stints at Sterling, Stony Hill, and Newton. He’s a winemaker and viticulturist both, and has mostly been a one-man show since he purchased his property in St. Helena, at the base of Howell Mountain, in 1978. His son, Toby, has worked with him since the early 2000s, but otherwise the operation has remained resolutely small and laser-focused—on Cabernet from two Howell Mountain parcels on gravel, sand, and volcanic rock, and Chardonnay from the Rutherford Bench on the Valley Floor. The Forman winery is dug into the same Howell Mountain hillside as his original estate wines and home, so this is a vintner who truly “lives” it 365 days a year.
The Forman operation combines elements of the intimate Burgundy “domaine” and the classic Bordeaux “château.” There’s Cabernet Sauvignon (really a Bordeaux-style blend driven by Cabernet) and Chardonnay—that’s it, aside from a “second” red called Château La Grande Roche. Forman’s two estate vineyards on Howell Mountain, above St. Helena, include the original 8.5-acre parcel where the winery is located and one higher up the slope, which totals 20 acres and contains a little more volcanic material. Both sites are planted not just to Cabernet Sauvignon but Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Petit Verdot. As is typical for Forman, the wine contains about 75% Cabernet Sauvignon (the minimum required for ‘varietal’ labeling) along with 15% Cabernet Franc and 5% each Merlot/Petit Verdot. It aged for 20 months in French oak barriques, 75% of which were new, before bottling.
The first thing that hit me about this 2018 is its remarkably smooth, velvety texture. It is drinking beautifully right now, with well-integrated tannins; what I think will sustain it over the long haul is not a massive tannic structure but instead the balance and freshness it exhibits. It is focused and perfectly calibrated, displaying an opaque ruby-red core moving to magenta at the rim. The aromas are lifted and complex, with blackberry and cassis sharing the bill with tobacco leaf, graphite, licorice, and damp violets. Unlike so many of the big, brooding Napa Cabernets we encounter around here, this one has nuance and finesse. Decant it about 60 minutes before serving at large Bordeaux stems at 60 degrees, being sure to save a few bottles for 5, 10, and 20 years down the line; this wine paired with the attached lamb loin chops recipe will make for one impressive dinner, whenever you have it. This is how classic Napa Cabernet is done!
