Jericho Canyon estate spotlight
Cellar Angels films Jericho Canyon Vineyards under Mount St. Helena, the Bleecher family Calistoga estate whose second label is this 2022 Angles Cabernet Reserve.
2022 Angles Cabernet Reserve, Calistoga Napa Valley (94D)
Nick Bleecher's Calistoga Cabernet from the Jericho Canyon family, Decanter 94, a 2022 you can open at thirty dollars.
The 2022 Angles Reserve is Calistoga Cabernet from the Bleecher family's mountain fruit: blackberry, black cherry, cedar, graphite, and espresso after 18 months in 60 percent new French oak, now $30.
Jericho Canyon fruit, bottled as Angles so you can actually open it
The Bleecher family farms Jericho Canyon under Mount St. Helena: volcanic soils, rows too steep for tractors, Calistoga heat with mountain air. In 2018 they launched Angles as a second label. Nick Bleecher, UC Davis, revived the Reserve in 2022 from that same Calistoga fruit. Eighteen months in French oak, 60 percent new, Taransaud, Seguin Moreau, Atelier. Decanter 94. The house note is blackberry compote, black cherry, baked plum, cedar, graphite, and sage smoke. This is the bottle that puts Bleecher Calistoga Cabernet on a Tuesday table.
The estate
Jericho Canyon sits under Mount St. Helena. Angles is the Bleecher family's second label for that mountain fruit.
The wine
Calistoga Cabernet. 18 months French oak, 60% new. Nick Bleecher.
The scores
Decanter 94: polished, dark fruit, luxurious oak, finesse and depth.
The drinker
Blackberry and cedar first. Decant 20 to 30 minutes. Serve 60 to 64 F. Steak or lamb.
Blackberry and cedar, then graphite and espresso
The house finds blackberry compote, ripe black cherries, and baked plums, then cedar, graphite, and herbes de Provence. Full-bodied, opulent, a long finish of espresso, dark chocolate, and sage smoke. Decanter called it a polished, modern Calistoga Cabernet with dark fruit and luxurious oak.
A Napa Cabernet year that kept fruit loud and the oak in line. Harvest in September. Eighteen months in 60 percent new French oak. Drink now with air, or hold through the early 2030s.
Blackberry, black cherry, baked plum, cedar, graphite, herbes de Provence.
Full, 18 months French oak 60% new, polished tannin.
Espresso, dark chocolate, sage smoke. Decant 20 to 30 minutes. Serve 60 to 64 F.
Mountain fruit, then 18 months of French oak
Nick Bleecher ferments Calistoga Cabernet and ages it 18 months in French oak, 60 percent new, from Taransaud, Seguin Moreau, and Atelier. The point is blackberry, cedar, and volcanic dust, not a new-oak costume. Angles exists so Jericho Canyon fruit can pour without the flagship ask.
Volcanic Calistoga soils under Mount St. Helena. Steep rows. Same hands as the estate Cabernet.
Decant 20 to 30 minutes. Serve 60 to 64 F. Steak, lamb, a winter plate.
A second label from a backbreaking Calistoga canyon
Angles started when the Bleechers had more fruit than the flagship could take. The 2022 Reserve is that idea with a plan.
Jericho Canyon is one of Calistoga's steep volcanic sites. Tractors lose. The family still farms it.
Nick Bleecher bottles Angles from that fruit so the mountain Cabernet can live on a weeknight table.
The 2022 Reserve is blackberry, cedar, and 18 months of French oak, priced at thirty dollars against a $130 typical retail.
Steak, lamb, and a little char
Calistoga Cabernet wants a hard sear. Butter-basted steak and rosemary lamb both take cedar and blackberry.
Two plates. One butter-basted steak. One rosemary lamb chop. Both can take Angles tannin and oak.
Decant 20 to 30 minutes. Serve 60 to 64 F. Wide Cabernet bowls.
Butter-Basted Ribeye
A hard crust, butter, and thyme. Angles Reserve's steakhouse landing.
Why it works: Fat and char cushion Cabernet tannin while browned beef pulls blackberry, cedar, and espresso through the glass.
View Recipe for butter-basted ribeye (opens in a new tab)
Rosemary Garlic Lamb Chops
Herb-crusted lamb for Calistoga Cabernet's graphite, sage, and polish.
Why it works: Lamb fat rounds the tannin. Rosemary echoes cedar and herbes de Provence.
View Recipe for rosemary garlic lamb chops (opens in a new tab)Put this Angles Cabernet in the cart
Nick Bleecher, Calistoga, Decanter 94. Thirty dollars.
Put it in the cart. This is the Bleecher Cabernet for a table that wants Jericho Canyon fruit without the flagship ask.
