Vintners Thomas Rivers Brown and Matt Hardin made a few barrels of this newest offering, with most grapes coming from St. Helena. This vintage of Caterwaul expresses an impressive array of decadent fruit, exotic spice, and mouth-watering structure. In the glass, the wine exhibits a completely opaque, deep purple hue with a dark violet halo. Aromas swell from the glass in waves of black cherry, plum reduction, and aromatic cedar notes. The palate is marked by a very sleek, polished mouthfeel. Complex notes of cassis, quince, macerated blackberry, and nutmeg are intricately layered, framed by a complimentary acidity. This wine offers a wealth of pure Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon character that is readily accessible today and should age well in the cellar for decades.
Thomas Rivers Brown, winemaker for some of Napa Valley and Sonoma’s most iconic labels including Schrader Cellars, Maybach, Pulido-Walker and his own winery, Rivers-Marie, has more than 20 100-point wines to his resume. Matt Hardin, a 6th generation Napa resident and farmer, was a partner in Barbour Vineyards, one of the most renowned vineyard management companies in Northern California which has farmed and developed some of the most iconic vineyards in Napa Valley. Working together for more than the last decade over numerous projects, their friendship developed. Out of that friendship, the idea of working together and utilizing the strengths of the other, Caterwaul was born.
