HELEN KEPLINGER ON GRACE 2018 AND RUTHERFORD BLANK 2018

James speaks with Helen Keplinger, winemaker at Grace Family Vineyards. This Napa Valley winery is known for producing some of Napa Valley's first cult wines, but the new owner is looking to maintain the property and its operations in the same manner as always.In this Zoom session, James and Helen taste the Grace Family Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Rutherford Blank 2018, which Helen says "may be the best vintage of Blank." James adds, "It's so delicious ... and then You have this really nice acidity at the end, it's almost like an Italian wine, with a balsamic character to it. That's crazy."Helen notes that the Grace Family Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 2018 is 100% cabernet and that they've refined their pickings for the grapes, resulting in only 150 cases produced for the 2018, and 100 cases for 2019. "I think the '18 is gorgeous, but the '18 is all upper block [of the property]," she says. "The upper block contains rocky, red volcanic soils and the vines there face east. Their struggle against the east produces an intense mineral, well-structured, red-fruit character with an aromatic herbal profile."