2020 Cultivar Bordeaux Blend from Napa Valley unfolds in the glass with a dark purple center that transitions to a ripe raspberry rim. As you raise the glass aromas of pomegranate, blackberry, plum, and cassis intertwine, accompanied by subtle notes of vanilla and a touch of nutmeg that delicately linger on the finish. The palate is a journey of flavors, where cherries and blackberries harmonize with a touch of mushroom and earthy undertones, creating a beautifully balanced profile enhanced by a hint of minerality. An opulent wine with rich, dense character. The experience extends to a long, silky finish, where the lingering notes of vanilla and nutmeg leave a lasting impression, inviting you to savor each moment. This seductive blend, crafted from Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Cabernet Sauvignon, is more than a wine; it’s an experience.
A versatile wine for food pairings. Whether it’s the sizzle of grilled steak, the succulence of chicken and veggies, the boldness of burgers with blue cheese, the tenderness of marinated tri-tip, the depth of beef bourguignon, or a cheese board – this wine complements them all with finesse.
The 2020 season will be remembered as historic. In Napa, a warm, dry winter didn’t give way to rain and cold weather until the end of March. The mild spring season gave us a great early start, while summer brought very cool mornings and very warm days. While the 2020 Napa Valley harvest proved to have its challenges, it is not without the hints of brilliance that define this magical area, the story of this vintage will continue to unfold over the years to come.
Cultivar Wine produces and curates small lot wines that express terroir from the best California wine appellations. By sharing wines from acclaimed regions of the Napa Valley to the Sonoma Valley and beyond, we are growing a community of wine lovers who value terroir-driven wine.
Cultivar Wine sources fruit from acclaimed appellations throughout northern California wine country. From Anderson Valley to the north, through Napa Valley and Sonoma Valley, and as far south as Santa Lucia Highlands, our wines are a distinct reflection of the unique terroir from which they originate.
Whether it’s Cabernet Sauvignon from Coombsville, Chardonnay from Oakville, or Pinot Noir from the Sonoma Coast, each varietal is selected for its individual characteristics, and how the growing region brings out its distinctive flavor profile.
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
I received the great & glorious email from Alice at WCC letting me know I’d be receiving something to sample for the weekend, then I fought with Big Brown to make sure I had time to get at least some initial impressions here for you all. We did manage to put away about haft the bottle to sample again tomorrow night, so hopefully this haphazard review will come with updates!
We always love a wine in the style of Bordeaux and finding a great accompaniment, but the meal prepping schedule has already been approved for this week, so chili it is and chili it will be. To my knowledge, I don’t think I’ve ever put this pairing together before, but who hasn’t experimented at least a few times?
On the initial pop & pour: alcohol present, but behind muted berries. We couldn’t put a finger on which in particular, so we settled on black and & dark red fruits. This wine is a luscious dark purple with a well-structured mouth feel. It’s not too rigid, but you’ll know that you are enjoying this glass.
There was significant crystallization on the cork and rim of the bottle neck, suggesting that this bottle has been hanging out for a while; no surprise as this is a 2020 vintage.
Spicy chili was having its way with our taste buds, so we set our samples aside for later. Coming back to the glass after some time, this wine has a lingering finish that brings some spice of its own, but nothing like what was coming off of the stovetop.
Our overall first impression is that this is an easily approachable, ready to drink bottle. We saved about half to sample Saturday evening, and we’ll do our best to update this post with any further information that may sway a purchase. I guessed that this would show up at $30/bottle, so almost spot on for the smaller package.
Case price is a great deal if you are looking to stock up for the holidays or if you are a fan of this style in general.
Many, many thanks to Alice, WD, Cultivar & the Casemates community.
Rat checking in!
As always, a delight to get a notification from Alice letting you know that you got a golden ticket!
Given the fact that the kids were home all day for a snow day, this was a really nice treat.
We received the 2020 Cultivar Napa Bordeaux Blend.
Obligatory rear label:
First thing I noticed was the lack of capsule. As I have recently read about, this is becoming more common with environmental considerations. Still seems strange to me, but I suppose the natural cork is liquid-tight, and it’s not like the capsule actually achieves much from a practical purpose perspective. The cork is printed with the same manual plow emblem on the label.
The second thing I noticed, after pulling said cork sans capsule, was the relatively heavy tartrate crystallization both on the cork end and remaining on the inside stem of the bottle. Recalling our fond experience with similar build up in many Wellington bottles, rather excited me to see what this wine was all about. I rechecked the label, to see that this is “just” a 2020 vintage, which seemed young for the amount of tartrate, but certainly not excessive.
The wine is a gorgeous medium-dark purple, very clear, and with strong legs.
Initial aromas of cedar and bramble. Perhaps a hint of menthol?
First taste reveals dark fruits, cracked pepper, and maybe a hint of alcohol. I checked the label again to note “only” 14.3%, where I may have expected 14.8 or 15%. Yes, I realize that there is some subjectivity in exactly how to label the ABV. This is full bodied, with soft, integrated tannins without any harshness, and a medium-long finish with nice acidity.
Letting the wine sit for 10ish minutes in the glass was a good call. This wine could probably use more like 30 minutes to open up at this point, but I couldn’t help myself and finished the glass before 30 minutes was up. It is likely that another few years would help, but I am not sure this is 10 years away from peak. It was good on its own, and very nice with dinner, though the thai beef curry wasn’t a particularly great compliment. The wine has enough acidity to cut through the fattiness of the beef stew meat, but not so much oomph to really work with the coconut milk curry. More expression of dark fruits, vanilla, cinnamon, and hints of black pepper were evident with the meal.
All in all, this was an extremely enjoyable wine, and disappeared from the glass surprising quickly.
From Michelle:
Not bad on pop and pour. Tastes more aged then you’d expect. Fruity. Tannins. Long legs. Overall, I would have drunk more not I had to drive in a snow storm. Would recommend and I think we should buy some.
From 14 year old:
This is a good wine. I really like it. It’s full bodied. Not super strong and without the watery taste. Doesn’t really go with the meal but I like it.
From 12 year old (who was very excited to be part of the tasting with more than just one sip):
It’s very wine-y. It tastes like wine. It’s okay. It’s hot a very strong flavor. It’s flavorful.
Assuming this is under $25/bottle, this is likely to be a buy for us.
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: tax and shipping are not included in savings calculations.)
2020 Cultivar Napa Valley Bordeaux Blend - $105 = 26.91%
Don’t know much of anything about the winery other than they were here before and from perusing the website, but find it interesting the back label simply states “Bottled by…”
@jasisk Dug around a bit, don’t know this crap by heart but the wording did raise an eyebrow. Legally, bottled by means Cultivar bottled it. So with no further delineation, such as vinted, produced, etc, very well could be purchased bulk wine they bottled and slapped a label on it.
@kaolis@Putsch fwiw we bought a case. Definitely not tainted, and very nice wine. Also we don’t buy generally, trying to wind down the 800 bottle backlog we have
@KSchweitz
Single varietal wines are not necessarily pure. In the US, they can have up to 25% grapes that are not the listed varietal. 15% for European wines.
2020 Cultivar Bordeaux Blend, Napa Valleye
Tasting Notes
Specs
What’s Included
2-bottles:
Case:
Price Comparison
Not for sale on winery website to the general public, $732/case MSRP
About The Winery
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
Estimated Delivery
Monday, Dec 2 - Thursday, Dec 5
2020 Cultivar Napa Valley Bordeaux Blend
2 bottles for $64.99 $32.50/bottle + $4/bottle shipping
Case of 12 for $284.99 $23.75/bottle + $1/bottle shipping
I thought that was a Tercero for a second
@losthighwayz ditto
@klezman @losthighwayz
I though the same. The label definitely has a resemblance.
2020 Cultivar Bordeaux Style Blend, Napa Valley
Hi Folks,
I received the great & glorious email from Alice at WCC letting me know I’d be receiving something to sample for the weekend, then I fought with Big Brown to make sure I had time to get at least some initial impressions here for you all. We did manage to put away about haft the bottle to sample again tomorrow night, so hopefully this haphazard review will come with updates!
We always love a wine in the style of Bordeaux and finding a great accompaniment, but the meal prepping schedule has already been approved for this week, so chili it is and chili it will be. To my knowledge, I don’t think I’ve ever put this pairing together before, but who hasn’t experimented at least a few times?
On the initial pop & pour: alcohol present, but behind muted berries. We couldn’t put a finger on which in particular, so we settled on black and & dark red fruits. This wine is a luscious dark purple with a well-structured mouth feel. It’s not too rigid, but you’ll know that you are enjoying this glass.
There was significant crystallization on the cork and rim of the bottle neck, suggesting that this bottle has been hanging out for a while; no surprise as this is a 2020 vintage.
Spicy chili was having its way with our taste buds, so we set our samples aside for later. Coming back to the glass after some time, this wine has a lingering finish that brings some spice of its own, but nothing like what was coming off of the stovetop.
Our overall first impression is that this is an easily approachable, ready to drink bottle. We saved about half to sample Saturday evening, and we’ll do our best to update this post with any further information that may sway a purchase. I guessed that this would show up at $30/bottle, so almost spot on for the smaller package.
Case price is a great deal if you are looking to stock up for the holidays or if you are a fan of this style in general.
Many, many thanks to Alice, WD, Cultivar & the Casemates community.
Cheers!
Rat checking in!
As always, a delight to get a notification from Alice letting you know that you got a golden ticket!
Given the fact that the kids were home all day for a snow day, this was a really nice treat.
We received the 2020 Cultivar Napa Bordeaux Blend.
Obligatory rear label:
First thing I noticed was the lack of capsule. As I have recently read about, this is becoming more common with environmental considerations. Still seems strange to me, but I suppose the natural cork is liquid-tight, and it’s not like the capsule actually achieves much from a practical purpose perspective. The cork is printed with the same manual plow emblem on the label.
The second thing I noticed, after pulling said cork sans capsule, was the relatively heavy tartrate crystallization both on the cork end and remaining on the inside stem of the bottle. Recalling our fond experience with similar build up in many Wellington bottles, rather excited me to see what this wine was all about. I rechecked the label, to see that this is “just” a 2020 vintage, which seemed young for the amount of tartrate, but certainly not excessive.
The wine is a gorgeous medium-dark purple, very clear, and with strong legs.
Initial aromas of cedar and bramble. Perhaps a hint of menthol?
First taste reveals dark fruits, cracked pepper, and maybe a hint of alcohol. I checked the label again to note “only” 14.3%, where I may have expected 14.8 or 15%. Yes, I realize that there is some subjectivity in exactly how to label the ABV. This is full bodied, with soft, integrated tannins without any harshness, and a medium-long finish with nice acidity.
Letting the wine sit for 10ish minutes in the glass was a good call. This wine could probably use more like 30 minutes to open up at this point, but I couldn’t help myself and finished the glass before 30 minutes was up. It is likely that another few years would help, but I am not sure this is 10 years away from peak. It was good on its own, and very nice with dinner, though the thai beef curry wasn’t a particularly great compliment. The wine has enough acidity to cut through the fattiness of the beef stew meat, but not so much oomph to really work with the coconut milk curry. More expression of dark fruits, vanilla, cinnamon, and hints of black pepper were evident with the meal.
All in all, this was an extremely enjoyable wine, and disappeared from the glass surprising quickly.
From Michelle:
Not bad on pop and pour. Tastes more aged then you’d expect. Fruity. Tannins. Long legs. Overall, I would have drunk more not I had to drive in a snow storm. Would recommend and I think we should buy some.
From 14 year old:
This is a good wine. I really like it. It’s full bodied. Not super strong and without the watery taste. Doesn’t really go with the meal but I like it.
From 12 year old (who was very excited to be part of the tasting with more than just one sip):
It’s very wine-y. It tastes like wine. It’s okay. It’s hot a very strong flavor. It’s flavorful.
Assuming this is under $25/bottle, this is likely to be a buy for us.
@jasisk you mentioned menthol and black pepper at different points. Any chance there’s some smoke in there?
@mattig88 no smoke
Definitely in the “ban the capsules and wax” camp. Thanks for another informative ratting.
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: tax and shipping are not included in savings calculations.)
2020 Cultivar Napa Valley Bordeaux Blend - $105 = 26.91%
Don’t know much of anything about the winery other than they were here before and from perusing the website, but find it interesting the back label simply states “Bottled by…”
@kaolis
Maybe a custom crush operation? As a former landscaper and landscape designer, I approve of the name “Cultivar”!
@kaolis only 277 cases, so definitely not a full commercial run
@jasisk Dug around a bit, don’t know this crap by heart but the wording did raise an eyebrow. Legally, bottled by means Cultivar bottled it. So with no further delineation, such as vinted, produced, etc, very well could be purchased bulk wine they bottled and slapped a label on it.
@kaolis respect your commentary always – i’m sitting on fence post for this one – wondering after reading this article – https://www.winespectator.com/articles/a-vintage-lost-napa-and-sonoma-vintners-say-2020s-fire-and-smoke-has-ruined-much-of-their-harvest
Perhaps Cultivar hit the jackpot on the 20% salvage of 2020 crop. Leaning buy here but will wait for more comment.
@kaolis @Putsch fwiw we bought a case. Definitely not tainted, and very nice wine. Also we don’t buy generally, trying to wind down the 800 bottle backlog we have
@jasisk @kaolis @Putsch only 800? We’re jealous of your restraint!
@winedavid and cultivar what are the percentages on the blend? thanks
Its like paying top dollar for a mixed breed dog—labradoodle for instance. Mixed wines thrown in a bottle. Purist. Gotta be pure.
@KSchweitz
Single varietal wines are not necessarily pure. In the US, they can have up to 25% grapes that are not the listed varietal. 15% for European wines.