Fall 2024 Release Wines
A Note from Elton Slone |
Dear Cabernet Clubber,
When I look back on 2024 I think that I’ll feel a major sense of relief that it’s in the rearview mirror, but I’ll also savor the challenge and the growth. Pretty much any significant growth that I have had in this life has been accompanied by a certain amount of pain. It’s still August and I’ve achieved Premier Platinum status on United Airlines while simultaneously garnering Executive Platinum honors on American Airlines. I have “miles to go before I sleep” at year end. The virtually non-existent 2020 vintage that was followed by the 50%-of-normal 2021 vintage led to a shortage of inventory in our little winery. With our cellar and inventories gradually making a comeback, it has been time to hit the road again to show sommeliers and retailers what our joint on Howell Mountain is all about. In the national market, it’s exceedingly difficult to turn off the faucet and then open on full again. Such is the mission in 2024.
From Chicago to Atlanta to Manhattan to Denver to Vail to Telluride to Rochester, to sum up the last few months, I’ve dragged the RCW bag full of Howell Mountain Cabernet. I grew BIG TIME in Telluride (if pain is a measuring stick). After three consecutive wine dinners in Denver and Vail, where I stayed out until the wee hours, I drove the nearly five hours to Telluride, changed hurriedly, grabbed a rental mountain bike and headed out with the locals for “a quick lap with great views.” The climb on rocky single track out of the valley kept the handlebars placed firmly against my nose due to the crazy steep gradient. After the first mile, I began thinking about the need to finish my will. Thanks to my residing at 20’ of elevation, the 9500’ start to the climb (that topped out over 12,500’) felt like I was summiting Everest without oxygen. The descent was one where the dropper seat post on my rental bike was slammed all the way down for a rodeo cascade down boulders and roots. About two minutes into the plunge I found myself wishing that I had worn my brown cycling shorts as a precaution. Any deviation of more than an inch or two from the proper line meant a helicopter ride to the dentist. Like all difficult things though, excepting commercial airline travel, it gets easier with repetition. I found myself greatly enjoying the rides on the following days when my body wasn’t so shocked. The soul and spirit of Telluride and the people there rejuvenated me in ways that I wasn’t expecting.
As the wholesale market returns to a sense of normality for us, so does our member experience. For the first year in many it seems, we are not having to fill our club shipments with any wines that were not part of the plan for the release. The 2021 Howell Mountain Cabernet and 2021 Mount Veeder Cabernet are children of the smallest yielding drought vintage that we have experienced in our thirty-year history at Robert Craig Winery. Tiny, loose clusters provided massive color and intensity from the abnormally high skin-to-juice ratios, even by mountain Cabernet standards. Pete Richmond, Phil Coturri and their crews did their work well on Howell and Veeder respectively in 2021. Our three vineyards continue to respond to their unparalleled expertise in nutrition, canopy management and uniformity strategy while nearing their certifications as organic properties.
I took my old employer and friend Jim Bundschu (shown here) to our Candlestick Ridge Vineyard in mid August along with his nephew Towle Merritt, who planted one half the vineyard for us in 2015, for a check in before lunch. I have to say that we all got a little teary eyed and emotional because there was a recognition of how much work, time and money is involved in the care of a vineyard like Candlestick. I can’t believe that a decade has gone by since our last visit together there. We followed the vineyard tour with lunch at the Charter Oak, and our conversation consisted almost completely of farming (fart jokes and politics would have to wait) over a godly bottle of Dönnhoff Höllenpfad GG Riesling 2022. Now there’s a place that can rival our mountain vineyards for degree of difficulty and expense in management. The day made me realize how lucky I am to do what I do. There are challenges, but there is joy.
As you receive your shipment of our very precious mountain cargo this year, I hope that you can reflect upon how you have participated in providing nourishment for our small, but important in terms of our wines, winery and vines on the mountain. It is no secret that the wine business is under pressure on a number of fronts. From the neo-prohibition movement that is using junk science to promote an agenda that excludes any alcohol at all as part of a balanced lifestyle–see the link provided to Jason Haas’s (of Tablas Creek Winery) excellent interview with Felicity Carter who digs down into the myriad of false claims that are being propagated by the temperance police; to the completely out-of-touch pricing for many wines and winery experiences in the Napa Valley (nobody spends more to farm it than we do); to the lack of interesting and engaging entry-level wines for America’s next generation consumers due to the homogenization of those wines by corporate interests and large independent wineries. Where’s our USA version of Chianti Classico or Côtes du Rhône or Etna or Cru Beaujolais? Lost in the tide of the corporate boardroom concoctions assembled from bulk gallons with engaging labels. But that’s an entire “Note from Elton” in itself.
We are currently experiencing success at Robert Craig Winery despite the lousy market conditions thanks to our wine quality level that remains at the very top of the Napa Valley regardless of price, the people who work here every day to provide noteworthy wines and the warmest customer experience, and to our customers who recognize that what we are up to is rare. These 2021 mountain wines are thrilling, thought provoking examples of what high elevation, single vineyard Cabernet can achieve when nurtured from the volcanic stones on Howell Mountain and Mount Veeder. We could not do any of this without you. It is my pleasure to welcome you into the small membership of our Cabernet Club for another round. When you have your first glass of these 2021s, I hope you will feel our presence with you in spirit. From Jason, Yordanos, Carley, Kiersten, Carlos, Scott, KC, Chuck, Derek, Michael, Maureen, Maryanne and me, we are wishing you a relaxing finish to summer and a welcoming of cooler evenings with a touch of fall in the air.
Thank you for your continued support.
Elton Slone
President/CEO
2024 Fall Releases
Here’s a preview of our Fall Release wines. Join our club waitlist for your chance to acquire these limited production beauties.
2021 Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon
VINEYARDS: Candlestick Ridge Estate Vineyard, Winery Estate Vineyard
APPELLATION: Howell Mountain
COMPOSITION: 87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Malbec, 4% Merlot, 2% Petit Verdot
CASES PRODUCED: 1,415
2021 Mount Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon
VINEYARDS: Amentet Estate Vineyard
APPELLATION: Mount Veeder
COMPOSITION: 81% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Cabernet Franc, 8% Malbec
CASES PRODUCED: 342
2021 Howell Mountain Côte de Craig
VINEYARDS: Candlestick Ridge Estate Vineyard
APPELLATION: Howell Mountain
COMPOSITION: 55% Grenache, 43% Syrah, 2% Zinfandel
CASES PRODUCED: 157
2021 Howell Mountain Black Sears Zinfandel
VINEYARDS: Black Sears Vineyard
APPELLATION: Howell Mountain
COMPOSITION: 100% Zinfandel
CASES PRODUCED: 140
Enjoy First Access to All New Releases
Craig Cabernet Club Members get first dibs on all New Release Wines, plus special member pricing & shipping offers. Join the waitlist to learn when membership is available.