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 "People are known by the company they keep," the adage goes. The same is true no less true of winegrowers and winemakers. Which is why we have so much faith in the just-launched, first-ever release from Ernie and David Ilsley. The boys have more associations than a psychiatrist's Rorschach test.
For starters, the fruit from their 23-acre vineyard on the western side of the Silverado Trail in Stag's Leap District used to be sold exclusively to Robert Mondavi Winery for use in its Stag's Leap District wines. Some was even used for Mondavi's Reserve program. That tells you about the fruit.
The location of the vines? Got that covered by association, too. They're adjacent to one of the revered wine producers of Napa Valley, Shafer Vineyards.
The association gets richer; David Ilsley is the vineyard manager at Shafer, the guy who is responsible for growing and picking all that stunning fruit that winds up in bottles that cost upwards of $150 a piece. On his own time, David oversees the vineyards at his family's property - which is, to remind you, next door.
There are even elements of association at the winemaking level
worthy of note: the winemaker is talented Craig MacLean who
makes several stellar small batch wines such as the Cabernet
Sauvignon for Brookdale Vineyards (which you likely haven't
heard about… but if you search our site, you will…).
"Our family has been here for 41 years," says 36-year-old Ernie. "Our grandfather purchased this property, next to Shafer, in 1962 and it has been producing fruit ever since."
Today, the whole Ilsley clan is involved; Ernie and brother David, who is 33-years-old, their respective spouses Ginette and Lorrie, their sister Janice is an equal partner and is responsible for marketing, and their parents Edgar and Sandra. Each family member adds an element to the day-to-day business of making and selling wine.
"Everyone said we were crazy to forego the lucrative contracts we had to sell our fruit to a larger winery, especially in light of the glut of wine out there. But David and I think we can make a name for our wine under our own label. The 2000 Cab is our first-ever release," says Ernie.
By day, Ernie has an insurance business and also consults to a plant nursery and to another winery; on weekends and nights, you will find him walking with brother David through the vineyard, checking the quality of hanging fruit.
The vines are 12- to 14-years-old and run all the way up to the tippy-top of a steep hill; David drops fruit until he collects about two tons per acre. "We planted Cab clones 7 and 4 and think they are perfectly suited to this terrain," says David.
The proof is, as they say, in the purpling… and what a massive
purple they've produced.
2000 Ilsley Vineyards, Stag's Leap District, Cabernet Sauvignon
Inky dark. Deeply dark. Darker than oxblood loafers. But not a brooding wine. On the attack there are violets and chocolate almost suggestive of Syrah; there is also sandalwood, spice and plum. This youthful wine has such a tightly wound structure that it appears to be a wine with a hidden core of wine. It is that compacted, yet competently made and in balance.
It has less brute force than Shafer Hillside Select, so don't go looking for comparisons. But it is not a pale shadow, Mini-Me of Shafer, either. It is a wine with its own story, pedigree and flavor.
To truly experience and understand this wine, purchase
at least three bottles; enjoy one now to learn something
about winemaking; have one about three years hence, to
learn how Stag's Leap District wines of this caliber age;
and open one about eight years hence, when the wine should
just be starting to relax, exposing an inner core of fruit.
The finish, even now, hints at cocoa and wine-gum flavors.
91 points today, growing potentially to 92 or 93 as time
marches on, permitting the core elements to rise and shine.
$48 for a legend in the making. |
ilovenapa.com Rating:
$48 |
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