Now that restrictions have been lifted, what better way to celebrate a renewed ability to hop across the pond than with a selection of Frog’s Leap in large formats. The following magnums are all in stock and ready for immediate delivery: big bottles of beautifully crafted, generous yet elegant wines from Napa Valley’s organic and sustainable pioneer John Williams.
At the top of our Christmas list there is the estate’s iconic Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon 2018. The flagship bottling is possibly Napa’s finest value rendition of this great variety – “an under the radar gem,” as Antonio Galloni puts it. The 2018 is a Cabernet of wonderful purity, intensity and freshness from one of the valley’s most traditional winemaking teams. It sings with notes of Rutherford ‘dust’, herbs and wild black fruits, whilst hums with tension. Both restrained and powerful, this is a flawless rendition of Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon. Grab some for your cellar while stocks last. Experience has shown us this wine is capable of many decades of ageing.
The cracking 2019 Zinfandel is the ideal holiday tipple. Ripe, sumptuous fruit, a touch of warm spice, a medley of berries and gently melting tannins make this the most sophisticated ‘workhorse’ of a wine. It’ll take on everything the festive table can throw at it. A co-fermented blend of Zinfandel and Petite Sirah, aged in concrete vessels and predominantly old French and American oak, the 2019 has both immediacy and impact: drink it today and you’ll find the experience hugely satisfying; cellar for five to ten years to allow its true colours to shine. The performance is not dissimilar to the much loved Ridge Zinfandel blends…
Read MoreJohn’s Frog’s Leap Merlot is one of the rarer wines in the range, grown on tiny pockets of clay-rich soils in eastern Rutherford. Silky and restrained, with a certain old-world finesse about it, the gorgeous 2018 is both expressive and uplifting. Fine, fresh, red berry fruit is accented by the verdant pucker of blackcurrant canes. Commenting on the 2018 vintage, the Frog’s Leap team was emphatic, “The vintage, quite simply, was nearly perfect and in every way, one for the ages”.
Alongside this is a release from another great Napa vintage, one that is just starting to strut its stuff. The 2013 Merlot from the Frog’s Leap library smells of red fruits, plums and fine tea upon opening, not unlike a Pomerol from a lighter vintage. After an hour in the decanter it takes on weight, revealing layers of savoury and floral nuance to accent the wonderfully silky fruit. Drinking beautifully now, this is a wine of impeccable balance and poise that’s only going to improve.