Crossbarn by Paul Hobbs, Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, USA, 2022

Producer Profile

Raised on a farm on the east coast of the United States, Paul Hobbs grew up in a teetotal household – but this did not stop his first taste of wine being Chateau d’Yquem!

It is tempting to say ‘and the rest is history’ and leave it at that, but there is so much more to this man. Paul came to winemaking via studying to be a doctor and this scientific background and attention to detail has helped hone his approach to crafting wonderfully precise, complex wines in California and around the world. He has famously been called the ‘Steve Jobs’ of wine by Forbes magazine and it is clear that he is a driven perfectionist whose hard work has paid off with numerous 100-point scores from the critics. However, to stop there would be to do Paul an injustice. Notwithstanding his mainstream winemaking training at UC Davis, Paul was an early advocate of low intervention methods.

Viticulture

The 2022 growing season kicked off with mostly mild winter temperatures and low rainfall; conditions that led to an early budbreak. A relatively cool spring ensued followed by a classic temperate summer, keeping berry development and vine growth on pace. Warm conditions in August followed by an intense heat wave after the Labor Day weekend hastened an already accelerated harvest. Overall, the quality of the vintage is strong, producing fruit with fresh acidity, superb energy, and beautifully complex flavours.

Winemaking

100% hand-harvested at night, native & cultured yeast fermentation, 100% spontaneous malolactic fermentation in barrel, very low sulphites, bottled unfined.

Tasting Note

This wine displays a deep, opaque saturated garnet hue. The nose captivates with red currant and ripe huckleberry with sweetly scented undertones of violet and aromatic dried herb. The flavour palate bursts with juicy wild blackberry essence and Japanese plum complemented by notes of tobacco leaf and baking spice. Vibrant with ample energy, tension and structure, the wine is both complex and richly textured finishing in a long, elegant crescendo by virtue of its silky fine-grained tannins.

Food matching

Lamb shanks, casserole and game bird.