The story of the Ballentine and Pocai Familes winds its way from Lucca, Italy and Omagh, County Tyrone, Ireland into the beautiful Napa Valley where the family has been making wines from the same estate vineyards since 1906. The Winery harks back to a simpler, less glamourous time in the Valley, the Ballentine’s are a modest bunch but they know a thing or two about making wine, the family received the 115th Winery Bond license in California. Most of their wine is sold out of their cellar door and direct to consumers, this is the first time their wine has even been this far North.

2016 Ballentine Vineyards – Napa Valley $74.94 per bottle – 14 x 6 packs available.
The 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon from Ballentine is an inky, exotic wine. Crème de cassis, sweet spice, and licorice are all given an extra kick of richness and textural intensity, Bright and intense mocha and espresso. Lovely complexity and powerful roundness. Super silky & smooth, with hints of cola, black tea, graphite and tobacco. A big powerful presence that shows of the great 2016 vintage qualities. This is a well built wine that will reward cellaring for a decade or more.

A note on the 2016 Vintage in Napa Valley: “Napa Valley enjoyed an extraordinary vintage in 2016. The bottled 2016’s are every bit as viscerally thrilling as they were last year when I tasted them from barrel. Best of all, 2016 is a captivating vintage from top to bottom, with a bevy of stunning wines for every palate and budget, as well as a number of bottles that are destined to become icons”
“The 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon’s are gorgeous wines endowed with striking aromatic intensity, nuance and depth.”
Vinous Media Antonio Galloni

Picture: Calistoga early 1900’s