Joe Harden's insights on this single- vineyard site, "State Ranch Vineyard on the other hand, moving a little bit south into Yountville, I think that is a powerful wine. The soil there is insanely rocky, so we get great drainage. The berries are small and tiny so that they’re really kind of focused dark fruited, dense, structured, powerful wine.”

State Ranch is situated northeast of the town of Yountville. The 23-acre vineyard is divided into two parcels, consisting of older and younger vines. Nickel & Nickel sources fruit only from 11 acres of the vineyard. The soils are porous and possess rocky loam. This opaquely colored Cabernet Sauvignon captures Yountville’s timeless terroir. The wine has a wealth of compressed blue and black fruits with mulberry, boysenberry, cocoa nibbs, lead pencil and star anise. The mid-palate introduces savory notes of black olive and roasted espresso. There is a harmonious interplay between all the waves of fruit and savory secondary notes. Framed in finely grained and polished tannins, this wine is destined for a long life.

By W Peter Hoyne