Alejandro Bulgheroni Estate spotlight
Philippe Melka on camera sorting fruit at Alejandro Bulgheroni Estate, the St. Helena house behind this 2021 Lithology Cabernet.
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2021 Lithology Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley, USA
Matt Sands, Philippe Melka, and Michel Rolland's Napa Cabernet, Jeb Dunnuck 96 and Decanter 96, a 2021 you can open at one hundred fifty dollars.
The 2021 Lithology is 86 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, 12 percent Merlot, and 2 percent Cabernet Franc from Napa Valley lots: cassis, blackberry, tobacco, graphite, and velvety tannin, now $150.
Valley Cabernet from the Melka, Rolland, and Sands bench
This is Lithology's Napa Valley Cabernet, not a single-vineyard Beckstoffer bottling and not the Alejandro Bulgheroni flagship. Matt Sands, Philippe Melka, and Michel Rolland built the 2021 as 86 percent Cabernet with Merlot and a splash of Franc from lots across the valley. Jeb Dunnuck 96. Decanter 96. International Wine Report 96. James Suckling 95. One thousand six hundred seventy-nine cases. Harvest ran September 3 to October 20. This is the bottle that puts that cellar on a table at one hundred fifty dollars.
The house
Lithology is Alejandro Bulgheroni's Napa Cabernet project. Matt Sands runs the St. Helena cellar with Philippe Melka and Michel Rolland.
The wine
86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc. Harvest September 3 to October 20. 14.8% ABV.
The scores
Jeb Dunnuck 96. Decanter 96. International Wine Report 96. James Suckling 95.
The drinker
Cassis and graphite. Decant two hours. Serve 60 to 64 F. Ribeye or short ribs.
Cassis and blackberry, then tobacco and graphite
Dunnuck found ripe red and black fruits, tobacco, and spicy floral notes, medium to full, velvety tannin, mid-palate depth, and a great finish. Decanter called it immense drinking pleasure, blackberry, blueberry, black cherry, polished tannin, a long mineral close. The estate sheet writes cranberry, cola, root beer, mineral, and firm tannin with a weightless mid-palate. International Wine Report 96 found blueberry, cassis, tobacco, savory herbs, and graphite.
A benchmark Cabernet year. Lithology picked from September 3 through October 20 and bottled 1,679 cases. The estate says decant a few hours and that the wine will age through 2045.
Cassis, blackberry, blueberry, cranberry, cola, tobacco, savory herb.
Medium to full, 14.8% ABV, velvety tannin, Merlot flesh, Franc lift.
Graphite, mineral length. Decant two hours. Serve 60 to 64 F.
Valley lots, a serious St. Helena bench
The 2021 Napa Valley Cabernet is 86 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, 12 percent Merlot, 2 percent Cabernet Franc. Matt Sands, Philippe Melka, and Michel Rolland share the technical sheet. Harvest ran September 3 to October 20. Alcohol 14.8 percent. One thousand six hundred seventy-nine cases. The job is density, mineral tension, and length without turning the wine into a speech.
This is the valley bottling. Beckstoffer names and the Alejandro Bulgheroni flagship sit on other labels. The same cellar made this wine.
Decant two hours. Serve 60 to 64 F. Ribeye is the plate.
Stone winery, Meadowood Lane, a Napa Cabernet house
Alejandro Bulgheroni bought the former Harlan North Winery on Meadowood Lane and built Lithology around Melka, Rolland, and Sands.
The St. Helena stone winery is the daily cellar. Matt Sands and Mark Pittman run it. Melka, Rolland, and Maayan Koschitzky consult.
Lithology is the Napa chapter of a wider Bulgheroni idea that also includes Waypoint and Alkina.
The 2021 valley Cabernet is how that house talks in a great Napa year, without a vineyard name on the glass.
Ribeye on the board, then short ribs
Velvety tannin and cassis want a hard crust and collagen. Ribeye takes the fruit. Short ribs take the graphite.
Two plates. One ribeye. One braised short rib. Both leave room for the wine.
Decant two hours. Serve 60 to 64 F in a Bordeaux glass. Air is for perfume, not rescue.
Pan-seared ribeye
Kenji's hard sear, rosy center, coarse salt.
Why it works: Char and fat match dark fruit while tannin cuts the crust.
View Recipe for pan-seared steaks (opens in a new tab)
Braised short ribs
Low heat, wine, bone.
Why it works: Collagen and Cabernet tannin need each other.
View Recipe for red wine braised short ribs (opens in a new tab)Put this 2021 Lithology in the cart
Sands, Melka, Rolland. Two 96s. One hundred fifty dollars.
Put it in the cart. This is the valley Cabernet from that cellar, at typical retail, built to open or to wait.
