The 1998 growing season in the Napa Valley was a difficult one, with a cool spring, rain at bloom, a cool summer followed by alternate spikes of heat and rain through the fall, until finally the marvel of a warm October. Our vines on the mountain actually bud out weeks before our neighbors’ on the valley floor, so the lengthened, warm fall weather gave the grapes the needed ripening to develop the intense color and flavors in the wine. The 1998  HL Cabernet Sauvignon will never have the muscle and massive ripe flavors that some other vintages show, but instead points out the stylish backbone of our hillside fruit, highlighting the terroir that can still create a successful wine from a difficult vintage.

The 1998 HL Cabernet Sauvignon has the characteristics of a more classic style of wine; rich and smooth with lots of generous up-front fruit flavors. While the 1998 vintage is not as weighty or powerful as others, it certainly is an elegant wine that should greatly improve with bottle age. We use loose-grain French oak barrels from coopers Taransaud and Nadalie for ageing, which gives the wine a great balance between fruit and new oak.

Even several years after its release, as we have periodically tasted this vintage, the 1998 HL Cabernet Sauvignon has developed creamier characters in the nose that highlight the sweet blackberry/blueberry and floral flavors of this fruit. But the wine is still tightly wound, and, as classic wines do, should evolve even more in the bottle for the next three to five years. So be patient and age the wine a while in your cellar if you can!