AVA Calistoga Cabernet spotlight
2019 AVA Calistoga Cabernet, Napa Valley
David Grega's volcanic Calistoga Cabernet, creme de cassis and cigar box, a 2019 you can open at one hundred fifty dollars.
The 2019 AVA Calistoga Cabernet is Cabernet from a northern Napa block where red volcanic clay meets eroded ash: creme de cassis, baked plums, blueberry preserves, cigar box, cinnamon stick, and dusty earth, now $150.
Volcanic Calistoga Cabernet with a TOR-trained hand
David Grega spent seven years beside Jeff Ames at TOR before bottling under AVA Vintners. This 2019 comes from a Calistoga hillside block where decomposed volcanic ash meets reddish volcanic clay, with cooler air pooling at the base of the hill so the fruit can ripen for power without losing freshness. The house note is creme de cassis, baked plums, blueberry preserves, and cigar box, then cinnamon stick, dusty earth, and bouquet garni on full, velvety tannin with a wicked backbone of freshness. 2019 in Napa was a long, warm summer and a mild fall. This is the bottle that puts that Calistoga site on a table at one hundred fifty dollars.
The house
David Grega trained under Jeff Ames at TOR, then launched AVA Vintners to bottle named Napa AVAs. Calistoga is the northernmost valley-floor appellation.
The wine
Cabernet from a Calistoga block of volcanic ash and red clay. Cooler air at the hill base. Full, decadent fruit with a fresh close.
The vintage
2019 was a long, warm Napa summer and a mild fall. Classic, ripe, plush Cabernet weather in Calistoga.
The drinker
Cassis and cigar box first. Decant 45 to 60 minutes. Serve 60 to 64 F. A hard-seared steak.
Cassis, baked plum, then cigar box and spice
The house finds creme de cassis, baked plums, and blueberry preserves, then cigar box, cinnamon stick, dusty earth, and a waft of bouquet garni. Full bodied, richly fruited, with ripe velvety tannin and a long, fresh finish. It drinks as Calistoga power with a cool-night close, not a jam slogan.
A long, warm summer and a mild fall gave Calistoga Cabernet hang time without a heat-spike panic. Night air off the hills kept acidity honest. Grega's 2019 reads ripe and still lifted.
Creme de cassis, baked plums, blueberry preserves, cigar box, cinnamon stick, dusty earth, bouquet garni.
Full, rich, velvety tannin, a fresh backbone, Calistoga heat with night-cooled acidity.
Long, decadent, still lively. Decant 45 to 60 minutes. Serve 60 to 64 F.
Volcanic clay, night air, then a TOR-trained cellar
Grega picked a Calistoga block where red volcanic clay and eroded ash sit near the base of a hill. Cooler air pools there, so skins can ripen for color and tannin while the wine keeps a fresh line. The point is Calistoga Cabernet with TOR-bench discipline: fruit density, cigar-box oak spice, and a finish that does not collapse.
Jeff Ames taught him the TOR register: ripe Napa Cabernet that still has architecture. AVA is Grega's own named-appellation line.
Decant 45 to 60 minutes. Serve 60 to 64 F in a Bordeaux glass. Steak is the plate.
A Calistoga AVA bottle from a TOR-trained cellar
Calistoga became its own AVA in 2009: hottest Napa days, largest diurnal swing, volcanic soils under Mount St. Helena.
David Grega is an Iraq-war veteran who came into Napa through harvest work, then seven years with Jeff Ames at TOR. AVA Vintners is his named-appellation project.
Calistoga sits at the north end of the valley. Volcanic ash and red clay, hot days, cold nights. Cabernet is the grape.
The 2019 is that site in a generous year: cassis, cigar box, and a Calistoga close that still has air in it.
Steak on the board, then a short-rib pot
Calistoga Cabernet wants char, fat, and a little smoke. A hard-seared steak takes the cassis. Braised short ribs take the cigar-box close.
Two plates. One butter-basted ribeye. One red-wine short-rib braise. Both can take Calistoga tannin.
Decant 45 to 60 minutes. Serve 60 to 64 F in a Bordeaux glass.
Butter-Basted Ribeye
A hard crust for a full Calistoga Cabernet that still has tannin to spare.
Why it works: Fat and char cushion dense fruit while browned beef pulls cassis, plum, and cigar box.
View Recipe for butter-basted ribeye (opens in a new tab)
Red Wine Braised Short Ribs
Collagen and slow heat for a 2019 Cabernet with velvety tannin and a long close.
Why it works: The braise rounds the structure. Dusty earth and spice meet the pot juices.
View Recipe for red wine braised short ribs (opens in a new tab)Put this Calistoga Cabernet in the cart
David Grega, volcanic Calistoga, a 2019 with cassis and cigar box. One hundred fifty dollars.
Put six in the cart. This is the AVA bottle for a table that wants Calistoga Cabernet, not a generic Napa slogan.
