94pts Jeb Dunnuck
From Spring Mountain and vines planted in 1999 and 2000, the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Ballard Canyon has a complex bouquet of bay leaf, lead pencil shavings, underbrush and sweet berry and currant fruits. It’s another polished, elegant wine from Smith that has classic Spring Mountain wildness and scrub brush notes, medium to full body, fine tannins, and a great finish. Give bottles a year or two and it’s going to evolve beautifully for 15-20 years.
Winemaker Notes
The 2016 Ballard Vineyard bottling is a quintessential mountain-grown Cabernet possessing a depth of personality and strong sense of place rarely found in valley-floor sites. Nestled in a forest clearing at an elevation of 1,800 feet atop Spring Mountain, Ballard’s mature vines are rooted in loosely textured, iron-rich red volcanic soil. This single parcel wine is soulful, evoking a sense of tiny, dark berries and intriguing herbal nuances, the rugged forest setting imparting notes of pine needle, bay laurel, cedar and dark roasted meat.
Vineyard
100% BALLARD VINEYARD
Harvest Date
SEPTEMBER 30TH
Appellation
SPRING MOUNTAIN DISTRICT – NAPA VALLEY
Clones
337
Age of Vines at Harvest
14 YEARS
Barrel Aging
AGED 20 MONTHS IN 57% NEW FRENCH OAK FROM TONNELLERIE SYLVAIN
Production
154 CASES OF 750ML
16 CASES OF 1.5L
12 BOTTLES OF 3L
Winemaker’s Notes
Our 2016 Ballard Vineyard bottling is a quintessential mountain-grown Cabernet possessing a depth of personality and strong sense of place rarely found in valley-floor sites. Nestled in a forest clearing at an elevation of 1,800 feet atop Spring Mountain, Ballard’s mature vines are rooted in loosely textured, iron-rich red volcanic soil. This single parcel wine is soulful, evoking a sense of tiny, dark berries and intriguing herbal nuances, the rugged forest setting imparting notes of pine needle, bay laurel, cedar and dark roasted meat.
Ethereal, multidimensional aromatics weave in complexity and depth: dried thyme, wild sage, rose petal and violet with a core of black and red fruits. The nose alone reveals how alive and dynamic the wine is. Immediately mouth-filling, there’s great structure here as persistent fine-grain tannins beautifully frame the mid-palate. Acidity extends the flavors through to the finish, with dusty cocoa, savory and slightly salty notes enveloping the wine’s natural power.
I’ve been growing and vinifying Cabernet Sauvignon in Napa Valley for 24 years, and this wine is among a handful of my favorite-ever bottlings—a wonderful throwback to Cabernets of 20+ years ago before excessive ripeness became the norm. The forward nature of the vintage makes it a pleasure on release while the palate hints at a rewarding development in bottle over the next 15+ years. Just seven barrels produced.
