2019 Arcudi Terramagra Cabernet Sauvignon, 3-bottle Lot

Arcudi wines are made by Tony Arcudi. An Italian-American from Boston who worked in computer-related fields – including aboard U.S. Navy submarines – Arcudi’s interest in food and cooking led to part-time cooking jobs in high school, and later to an interest in wine. After his service in the U.S. Navy he tried making wine in his basement, but eventually moved to California to study winemaking at U.C. Davis. He worked in the Rhone Valley before returning to Napa and working as assistant winemaker at Nickel & Nickel. But Arcudi wanted to make his own wine, and his debut release was a 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon from Black Sears Vineyard on Howell Mountain. The wine is generally available only through a mailing list. Vinous rated the 2012 Arcudi at 93-95 pts and called it “a superb first effort from Tony Arcudi.”

Napa Valley AVA is the most famous winemaking region in the United States and one of the most prestigious in the world. With nearly 43,000 acres of vineyards and more than 300 wineries, it is the heart of fine wine production in the United States. Winemaking started in Napa in 1838 when George C. Yount planted grapes and began producing wine commercially. Other winemaking pioneers followed in the late 19th century, including the founders of Charles Krug, Schramsberg, Inglenook and Beaulieu Vineyards. An infestation of phylloxera, an insect that attacks vine roots, and the onset of Prohibition nearly wiped out the nascent Napa wine industry in the early 20th century. But by the late 1950s and early 1960s Robert Mondavi and other visionaries were producing quality wines easily distinguishable from the mass-produced jug wines made in California’s Central Valley. Napa Valley’s AVA was established in 1983, and today there are 16 sub-appellations within the Napa Valley AVA. Many grapes grow well in Napa’s Mediterranean climate, but the region is best known for Cabernet Sauvignon. Chardonnay is also very successfully cultivated, and about 30% of the AVA’s acreage is planted to white grapes, with the majority of those grapes being Chardonnay,

One of the most widely grown grape varieties, it can be found in nearly every wine growing region. A cross between Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc. It’s a hardy vine that produces a full-bodied wine with high tannins and great aging potential.