Today marks the first time that we’ve ever featured a Markham wine and we keep asking ourselves… what took us so long?! Today’s Markham 2014 Estate Grown Cabernet Sauvignon is a young wine that drinks beautifully now - and will continue to improve for the next decade or longer! Don’t miss this one…

Markham was founded in 1978, but the winery site and vineyards harken back to the mid-1800s, when French immigrant Jean Laurent came to California in 1852 to seek his fortune during the gold rush. He got sidetracked and instead founded his namesake winery in 1874. This was one of the very first wineries in the Napa Valley. Nearly 100 years later, Bruce Markham purchased the original winery and a handful of prime vineyards. He launched the Markham Vineyards winery in 1978. The winery focused first on Cabernet Sauvignon, but later branched out to other Bordeaux and Burgundian varietals. The winery has garnered countless awards and is today known as one of Napa’s premier wine houses.

This Napa Cab is extremely dense at the center, with little light passing through. At the edge, its garnet hue gives way to maroon. The nose is very clean and enticing with barrel spice dominating bouquet. We have aromas of cigar box, new leather, raspberries with a floral character of dried roses and potpourri. On the palate, the flavors transition to notes of dark chocolate and mocha, with the berry notes turning dark as well, more blackberry and boysenberry than raspberry. There’s a toasty caramel flavor that’s pervasive as well. Very well constructed, you can tell that the winemaker has been at this for awhile. The tannins are silky smooth, yet coat the entire mouth for a very round mouthfeel. Would be absolutely perfect with a thick beef brisket with fingerling potatoes and caramelized pearl onions roasted with rosemary.

Enjoy!

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Here’s what the wine press has to say:

90 Points - Wine Enthusiast Magazine - Juicy and soft, this wine is blended with 3% Petit Verdot and 2% Cabernet Franc. It weaves together black cherry, leather and tobacco within smooth layers of nuance and medium-bodied weight, finishing in splash of refreshing acidity.