2019 Prima Materia Lake County Cabernet Sauvignon

WE95 This bold, complex and true-to-type wine offers heady tobacco, turned earth and dark-chocolate aromas followed by opulent, concentrated black-cherry, black olive and blueberry flavors, all embraced by moderate, fine-grained tannins that are beautifully integrated. Prima Materia specializes in Italian varietals but this French varietal could be its best wine yet.
Estate Notes: In the Prima Materia tradition, we focus on an Old-World profile that celebrates earthy elements in conjunction with pure fruit. Ripe plum, blackberry, cassis, pepper and all sorts of purple tones meld with bass tones of rich fig, leather, and those graphite or crunchy black rock tones that make Bordeaux so special. The acid and alcohol levels were perfect, and this Cab is fully food-friendly, and devoid of vanilla and baking spice confected oak notes, staying on the Dionysian side of things.

Leave it to former professional chef to bridge the gap between New California minimal-intervention winemaking and unapologetic old school classical. Pietro Buttitta’s Prima Materia winery grows 10 acres of estate fruit at 1,500’ elevation in between the Mayacamas mountain range and the Mt. Konocti volcano in Lake County without herbicides or pesticides. His wines are very limited gems born of careful winemaking and grape growing, spontaneously fermented, unrefined, unfiltered, and super precise with an almost French sensibility. Crafted only in small quantities these bottlings are very limited.

Grown at 1,360’ elevation on former Clear Lake lakebed soils, this is our old school take on Cab, low oak, earthy, no adjustments.
 
Vineyard: From a friend’s vineyard 5 miles away, unknown clone on unknown roots. Originally under Constellation contract, Eric Seely, a former Beckstoffer manager, lost his contract in the grape glut of 2019. Here, he hand-picked shade-side fruit only for me from his immaculately maintained vines, perplexed as to why I would ever want that.
 
Winemaking: Hand harvested 10/4/19 with perfect acid and alcohol that finished at 14.09%. A sluggish ferment was perfect, lasting 29 days in T-bins, which was fortunate because we had no electricity for five days. All manual punchdowns, wood basket pressed dirty to barrels. The wine was aerated twice and returned back to barrel with lees in March and June the following year. Bottled after 21 months unfined and unfiltered with just a touch of oak from 3rd year French barrels.