2016 Christopher Tynan Wines Meleagris Gallopavo Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon

Christopher Tynan Wines was founded in 2012 by Christopher Tynan, one of Napa’s rising stars. Tynan has made wine for Colgin Cellars, Chateau Boswell and trained early on with Helen Turley and Jon Wetlaufer at Blankiet Estate. He is now chief winemaker at Lede Family Wines. Tynan is also making his own very limited production Cabernet Sauvignon from grapes sourced in Napa Valley, and, in only his second vintage, he earned 100 pts from Robert M. Parker Jr. Parker wrote this: “Even for someone who has been doing this for thirty-eight years, there are times when you taste something that sort of breaks through all preconceived notions and reference points. I knew Christopher Tynan as a winemaker for Cliff Lede, but this is his wine, and it is outrageously spectacular and incredibly singular and special. The wine is extraordinary.” Tynan’s wines are available only through his mailing list.

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.