2003 Lewis Cellars Mason's Cabernet Sauvignon

Lewis Cellars in Oakville, Napa Valley, was founded in 1992 by Debbie and Randy Lewis. They own no vineyards but source their grapes from Calistoga, St. Helena, Rutherford, Oak Knoll, Carneros and the Russian River Valley. The estate produces Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. Total production is 9,000 cases annually. The Lewises originally hired Paul Hobbs as winemaker, but today the winemaker is Brian Mox. California wine writer James Laube has written that all the estate’s wines “are of unusually high quality.”

Mount Veeder AVA was established in 1993, though its origins as a wine producing district date to the 19th century. A German Presbyterian pastor named Peter Veeder was one of the first landowners in the area, and by 1864 one of his neighbors, a German sea captain named Stelham Wing, was producing wine commercially. The area continued to attract German agricultural entrepreneurs, some of whom established the estate that would later become the Christian Brothers Mont La Salle winery. Today the AVA includes about 1,000 acres of vineyards, most of them at relatively high altitudes. The Mayacamas vineyard, for instance, is at 2,400 feet. Cabernet Sauvignon is the most frequently planted grape, followed by Malbec, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot.

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.