2017 Complant "Beller Vineyard" Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley

We first got to meet Dan Baron when he launched Complant in Ohio in the spring of 2021 and we were blown away. Complant is a joint venture between a father-son team of Dan & Sam Baron. They've got about 60 vintages of winemaking experience between them, and a pretty fantastic pedigree of wineries behind them (slightly more Dan than Sam, to be fair). Dan started in the 1970s, before a year at Petrus, which lead him to 12 years running Dominus, and 23 years as the winemaker for Silver Oak. Sam spent time around Europe, before helping found Populis / Les Lunes. They both share a love of farming and a focus on vineyards first. The winemaking is all minimal intervention, and they're aiming for a little bit of the pre-90s style of California wines.

"Our 2017 Complant Cabernet Sauvignon comes from the Beller Vineyard on Mt Veeder in the Napa Valley.  It is a co-ferment of Cabernet Sauvignon  and Petit Verdot.  Co-fermentation is a technique that creates a synergy between the color, aromatics and structure of two varieties.  One cannot achieve the same alchemy with simple blending.

The grapes were fermented on indigenous yeast and malo-lactic bacteria and aged in thin-staved Bordeaux chateau barrels of which 22% were new.  The wine was racked through the heads (soutirage traditionnel) every three months.  This is a method that Daniel learned while working in Pomerol in the 1980’s." -- Winery

214 cases were produced. 13.06% abv.