Sign of the Dove Missouri Hopper Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville 2021

Four generations of the Taub Family have lived with wine as their centerpiece. Marty Taub entered the wine industry in the years after prohibition ended, and by 1930, he had been instrumental in revitalizing wine imports. In 1977, he and his son David founded Palm Bay International, representing a collection of distinctive wines worldwide. In 2013, David’s son Marc founded Taub Family Vineyards in the Napa Valley. For the last decade, Marc and his son Jake have forged a new path for the Taub Family to create beautiful wines from some of California’s most exciting appellations, establishing strong relationships with Napa’s best growers, specifically Andy Beckstoffer. 2024 marks the year when Jake takes center stage, ready to make his mark on the Taub family legacy with the inaugural release of Sign of the Dove.

During the 2019 Aspen Food & Wine Festival, Jake attended a winemaking seminar led by Aperture owner/winemaker Jesse Katz. Jesse’s winemaking prowess preceded him, and Jake knew he had to meet him after the event. The two quickly started a conversation and, by the end, had a date in the books to visit Jesse’s state-of-the-art winery in Healdsburg. Three weeks later, Jake and his father, Marc, visited with Jesse and were thoroughly wowed by the facility, which showcased the latest and greatest winemaking equipment and technologies. Jesse’s thoughtful approach to building his winery with no detail missed reflected his style that embraces precision through innovation. His resume is an all-star cast of the world’s top wineries, such as Screaming Eagle and Château Petrus, which he credits with instilling his meticulous methodology. With an eye on the potential to combine Jesse’s adept and impeccable winemaking with the exceptional fruit from the Beckstoffer vineyards, Jake and Jesse struck a deal that day to make wine together. From this handshake, Sign of the Dove took flight with a name that pays homage to the family’s ancestry as “Taube” means dove in German.

Missouri Hopper Vineyard sits north of the town of Yountville and just over the border for the Oakville AVA. Part of an original land grant given to George C. Yount himself and once a part of Vine Hill Ranch, Andy Beckstoffer purchased the 46 acres in 1996 and began rehabilitating the land and planting additional clones of Cabernet Sauvignon. The terroir is so precious that in 2002, California placed the property under a land conservation easement that forbids non-agricultural development. The vineyard has intense sun exposure for much of the day, so the vines grow a dense, intertwined canopy. One might wonder how the grapes could thrive with such a thick covering. Luckily, shale fragments and obsidian chunks pepper the soil, soaking up the sunlight and radiating the heat to the grapes, allowing them to ripen evenly without scorching.

2021 marked the debut vintage for Sign of the Dove with two wines premiering, one of which is this 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from Missouri Hopper. Jake and Jesse hand-harvested their fruit from Block B, which is planted solely with Clone 4. The grapes made the short trip to the winery, where they were sorted four times before being split evenly into stainless steel and concrete vessels for fermentation. Aging took place in 100% new French oak barrels over 22 months, at which point the lots were blended and bottled unfined and unfiltered. Dark, dried fruit aromas of blueberry fruit leather and prune fill the nose and are complemented by wisps of tart cranberry and black cherry liqueur. Vibrant acidity lifts the palate layered with flavors of bay laurel, dried tobacco, and cedar and balances the tightly woven tannins that lead into a smooth, elongated finish.