2016 Rivers-Marie Panek Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon

Rivers-Marie is a boutique producer of Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir and Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon started a few years ago by by Thomas Rivers Brown, a Napa winemaker and winemaking consultant who has worked for such clients as Schrader and Turley. He and his partner Genevieve Marie Welsh work with vineyard owners to secure grapes. Their wines, produced in very small quantities, are generally available only by mailing list. In 2009 Eric Asimov of the New York Times called Rivers-Marie Pinot Noir ‘intense yet beautifully balanced, with lively acidity that makes them refreshing.”

St. Helena AVA is at the northern end of Napa Valley just north of Rutherford and south of Calistoga. It is a relatively warm climate thanks to the Mayacamas Mountains on its western edge, which protect it from Pacific Ocean fog. Out of the 9,000 acres in the appellation, some 1,500 are under vine. The principal grapes grown in St. Helena are the Bordeaux grapes of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot. St. Helena is considered prime wine producing territory, and it was one of the first important wine producing regions in northern California. The legendary Charles Krug founded his winery just north of the town of St. Helena in 1873, and today the appellation is home to many prestigious producers, including Abreu, Grace Family and Spottswoode.

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.