Glorious Revolution Morris Family Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Diamond Mountain 2018

The Glorious Revolution of 1688 set in motion the birth of a new political system and effectively changed the course of a nation’s history.  Choosing this grandiose name for their brand speaks not only to the tectonic shift in the Morris Family’s life upon purchasing their Diamond Mountain estate but to the sense of legacy they’ve placed on creating a wine and a place for the generations of family to come.  Endowing their children (and eventually grandchildren) with land for a future of coaxing vines in the rugged hills and valleys of Diamond Mountain to produce superb Cabernet grapes and ethereal wines. 

Billy and Beth Morris spent two years searching for the perfect property in Napa and finally found 80 acres on Diamond Mountain in 2012. They uprooted their life in Florida and moved to Napa, where they hoped to bring together their love of family, food, and farming.  After building a ranch home and adding another 30 acres to the mountain property, Billy and Beth turned their focus to the Cabernet Sauvignon vineyards on the property.  When they purchased the land, Cabernet Sauvignon vines already existed and had been planted in 2002.  All the fruit was sold to prestigious producers throughout Napa until 2018 when the Morris Family set their sights on creating a personal label.  They brought Mike Smith (Thomas Rivers Brown protégé and a winemaking resume including Myriad, Becklyn, Carter, Scarlett, and Maybach) on as winemaker to craft their first vintage.  Mike elected to utilize Block 1 from the family’s estate, a parcel that lies 1,200 feet above sea level and is tucked into a little valley midway up the mountain.  The two acres of Cabernet Sauvignon benefit from nutrient-dense, volcanic soils and even exposure from the sun traveling East to West across the vines each day.  And while the Cabernet vines are the treasured parcel of the property, Billy and Beth kept most of their land wild and natural.  Nurturing the surrounding forestland and witnessing the breathtaking beauty are equal aspects of the Glorious Revolution experience.

The stellar 2018 vintage was generous to the Morris Family estate, where just enough rain fell in late Winter, and the sunshine was plentiful with no significant heat spikes to knock ripening off its steady course.  Harvest by hand began in the early morning hours of October 10th, and the fruit fermented in stainless steel tanks for 21 days with gentle pump overs—the wine aged 20 months in French oak barrels from a mix of three cooperages. Glorious Revolution has debuted with a richly elegant Cabernet that celebrates all the beauty in the darker classic Cab aromatics like black plums, tobacco, chocolate shavings, and stemmy herbs.  Graceful and refined tannins hold the structure with a seemingly ethereal texture that lasts through the extended finish.  This wine has a sense of timelessness, similar to the epic land it embodies, and will age smoothly over the next decade.