Fess Parker’s Addendum Cab

As much as we like to bag on the big, bad behemoth wine region to our north, Napa Valley does produce mighty fine cabernet sauvignons, wines that, when done well, balance deeply ripe fruit with laser-focused earth and spice flavors. The Fess Parker Winery team does just that with their 2016 Addendum, a cab sourced from Napa vineyards but made at their winery in Los Olivos. 

The grapes come primarily from Stagecoach Vineyard, with the remaining 13 percent hailing from the Skellenger Lane Vineyard, which the Parkers also make into a single vineyard bottling. The wine is vibrant with cassis, black olive, and crushed graphite on the nose, leading into a palate laced with lithe tannins, piquant acidity, crushed plum flavors, and a touch of vanilla toward the finish.

This is the third vintage of this flagship bottling for the family’s new label, in which winemakers Eli Parker and Blair Fox go beyond the familiar Central Coast environs to explore what Napa has to offer. They’re serving this and the other Addendum wines in Fess Parker Winery tasting room outside of Los Olivos, part of a private, seated, and guided tasting experience. Only 200 cases were made, so hurry up!

$90; addendumwines.com