Hobel 'The Grain' Cabernet Sauvignon 2014Napa Valley

We tasted this a few weeks ago with co-vintner Bahaneh Hobel and really enjoyed this 2014 release made by their longtime friend and great winemaker, Thomas Brown. The deal was made back in 1998 and it was that if Bahaneh’s husband, Cameron (who at the time was head of business development at winebid.com) were to ever start a wine brand, his good friend Thomas, who at the time was the assistant winemaker at Turley Cellars, would make his wine. In 2009 Hobel Cabernet Sauvignon was first released. We tasted their offering a few years ago and was re-introduced to them again this month with their 2014 vintage. This Cabernet Sauvignon continues to come from Engelhard Vineyard on the western hillsides of Calistoga AVA. It is full-bodied and concentrated with dark black fruit, crème de cassis and cocoa dusting. The acidity helps to make this a focused, layered effort. We tasted this immediately out of the bottle after it was opened and again about an hour later in the glass. This wine should be decanted about an hour before enjoying- patience for letting it open will be well worth the wait.