Fore Family Vineyards Cobb Mountain Vineyard Lake County Cabernet Sauvignon 2018

The strident 2018 Fore Family Vineyards Cobb Mountain Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon displays its youthful exuberance with a bold purple color, deep-down Cabernet fruit, and plenty of backbone to guide it into the next decade. Built in the traditional pre-modern style of Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, the Fore Family’s 2018 Cobb Mountain Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon fills the mouth with deep blackberry and mulberry flavors, entwined with hints of clove, cardamom, and dark chocolate. It expands on the palate as it airs, revealing a core of deep-down black currant flavors tinged with vanilla and spice. On the finish, the wine’s well integrated tannins reveal its youthful ardor, letting us know that it remains in a formative stage of development. For optimal enjoyment, we suggest serving this beautifully wrought Cabernet Sauvignon at cool room temperature (58°-62° F) after an hour in a decanter. Enjoy the bold and beautiful 2018 Fore Family Vineyards Cobb Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon now and over the next decade.

A powerful, complex Cabernet Sauvignon such as the 2018 Fore Family Vineyards Cobb Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon calls for accompaniments of equal size and stature. A perfectly grilled Tomahawk steak served with Portobello mushrooms and bacon-infused sweet potato mash; Seared Wagyu Flank steak prepared with a honey-lavender glaze, sautéed kale, and Butternut squash au gratin; and Rack of Lamb rubbed with olive oil, Provençal herbs, garlic, and fresh mint in the company of haricots verts and creamy garlic mashed potatoes offer flavorful, mouthwatering companions to the 2018 Fore Family Vineyards Cobb Mountain Cabernet. An equally compelling, heart-healthier option calls for Coffee Crusted Bison Filets. But if beef isn’t to your taste, consider Mushroom Wild Boar Sausage Ravioli or a delectable vegetarian option in a Spicy Four Bean Chili. And if by some chance a bit of 2018 Cobb Mountain Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon still remains in your glass at the end of the evening, add a piece of hand crafted dark chocolate and enjoy the best in life. Enjoy!

Many of California’s most compelling wines are made in small lots by families such as the Fore Family. Such wines are highly allocated and are generally only available in California and can only be purchased at the winery. This month’s feature, the 2018 Fore Family Vineyards Cobb Mountain Vineyard Lake County Cabernet Sauvignon, certainly belongs on the growing list of excellent California Cabernets emanating from small family vineyards. The entire production of this superb Cabernet Sauvignon is a mere 276 cases.

Fore Family Vineyards began in 1986 when Jim Fore won first place with his Pinot Noir in the Napa Town and Country Fair home winemaking division. This accolade gave Jim the impetus to plant a small Cabernet vineyard in the back yard. Since then, the Fore family passion to grow grapes and make wine has grown to sixty acres in Napa and Lake Counties and is a multi-generation family affair.

Jim’s wife Diane, a retired Kindergarten teacher, is also fully engaged in the family enterprise from sales to assisting in the vineyards, managing meetings, and bookkeeping. From the beginning, Fore Family Vineyards was meant to be a family affair, but the couple’s children, Melissa and Eric, were too young at the onset to commit to that endeavor. However, as adults, they now share the pleasures of wine and are actively involved in Fore Family Vineyards.

“In 1995, Koerner Rombauer told Jim Fore that if you're going to get involved in the wine industry, you need to take it from the very beginning to the end—grapes to wine.” Jim jumped in feet first. Before he was officially in the wine business, Jim acquired grapes for home winemaking use from Doug Hill. Little did Jim know then that the two would become grape growing partners just a few years later. Jim and Doug formed a partnership, Fore-Hill Vineyards, and currently farm forty-five acres across five vineyards in the Napa Valley.

Fore Family Vineyards manages Cobb Mountain vineyard, which is the highest mountain vineyard in the Red Hills area that straddles the Napa/Lake County line. The Fore family does the majority of the farming on the property and their farming practices are sustainable, which means that they don’t take out without putting back. They plant cover crops, which are a mixed blend that includes legumes to increase nitrogen and act as green compost. Cover crops are planted in alternating rows each year, which in turn alternates the rows that are tilled. The Fores also maintain the balance between vine canopy and crop, so as to control yields. Fore Family Vineyards believes this is a responsible way to farm the land, so it can be continued for many years. Moreover, they never produce more than 500 cases of any varietal to assure quality.