Dalecio Family Wines Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 2017

Scott and Kathleen Dalecio are Bay Area natives whose professional lives lay at the intersection of resorts, hotels, and hospitality, which led them further afield to Hawaii and Southern California. But this dynamic duo always harbored a desire to return to their Northern California roots and to imbue that love of hospitality into a home in the Napa Valley- with a fantastic wine on the table to share with family and friends of course. 

Fortuitously, Scott and Kathleen stumbled upon a tidy little vineyard estate to call their own here in Napa just south of us in Rutherford. So intertwined are hospitality, wine, and family for them, each Dalecio cork is emblazoned with the phrase “Love, etc.!” which is the cheerful sendoff used by Kathleen’s father, John, to conclude all his correspondence with his children and grandchildren. While the dream is to ultimately offer an estate wine, the Dalecio wines are sourced from some of the most coveted districts here in Napa, among them: Diamond Mountain, Pritchard Hill, Oakville, and Coombsville. Not simply satisfied with procuring the best fruit from the ultimate locales, Scott and Kathleen have teamed up with none other than the iconic winemakers Philippe Melka (Tusk Estates, Dana Estates, Vice Versa) and Maayan Koschitzky (Atelier Melka, La Pelle, Brilliant Mistake) to craft wines of outstanding caliber. 

The Reserve bottling connotes a blend of the very best Dalecio Family Cabernet Sauvignon barrels in any given vintage. This wine was produced from exceptional mountain vineyards high above the valley floor, ranging from 1,200 to 2,100 feet in elevation. The rocky, well-drained soil of these vineyard sites produces small clusters of fruit that are rich and concentrated in flavor. Featuring 76% Cabernet Sauvignon, Philippe rounded out the wine with 24% Petit Verdot for fine-grained tannins and added structure. The wine aged gracefully for 20 months in 80% new French oak for added complexity. This delectable Cabernet Sauvignon practically leaps out of the glass with perfumed aromas of rose petal, pipe tobacco, and baked plum. The palate is awash with flavors of decadent chocolate and blackberry torte framed by smooth tannins and culminates in a long, rich finish. Just 5 barrels produced.