Tasting Notes:
96 points – Lisa Perotti-Brown
The 2021 Agnes Sorel, with no added sulphur … offers up savory notes of oolong tea, tar and baked plums with hints of crushed rock and sauteed herbs. The full-bodied palate is lively and refreshing, with vibrant black and red berry layers.
91 points – Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
All Cabernet Franc from the estate vineyard on Mount Veeder, the 2021 Agnes Sorel was made without any sulfur additions and aged in a combination of amphora (one-third) and oak (two-thirds). Marked by distinctive floral elements of violets and roses, it also boasts cherry-berry fruit. In the mouth, it’s medium to full-bodied and slightly angular, but it finishes with ample length and silky tannins. This vintage, Agnes Sorel is more about her gorgeous scent than her touch.
Aaron Pott’s own label is based on his family’s holdings high on Mount Veeder. Starting with the 2022s, the lineup has expanded to include Syrah and Tribidrag (Zinfandel), sourced from the neighboring Lagier Meredith Vineyard, which was gifted to Pott’s daughters by former owners Carole Meredith and Steve Lagier.
“I bought my property to grow great Cabernet Franc. I’m lucky that it grows great Cabernet Sauvignon too,” Pott said, when we sat down at a winery of one of his client’s to taste through his numerous projects. Still, Pott supplements his own fruit so he can bottle selected other single-vineyard wines, most of which, says Pott, are among the cooler sites in the Napa Valley. A couple of the wines even come from outside Napa, like a Pinot Noir from Anderson Valley and an old-vine Carignan from Suisun Valley.
As our tasting included both bottled 2021s and pre-bottling samples of the 2022s, it provided an opportunity to discuss the two vintages. Pott says he finds the 2022s to be “softer, more aromatic early on, with a faster evolution of the wines.”
The generally low-tech winemaking takes place at a modern facility in southern Napa, although word is that he’s recently started building a winery on the Mount Veeder property. Grapes are put in open-top wooden fermenters, layered with dry ice and put into a cold room. When they’re ready, they’re brought outside to warm and start fermentation, with hand punch-downs employed for extraction. Pott says he doesn’t use any additives, packaged yeasts or bacteria, and he eschews filtration.
While some of the wines do show up at retail from time to time, the most reliable way to secure these wines is through the winery’s mailing list.
Bottle Size:
750 mL
Storage History:
Always stored properly in a climate controlled cellar.
Condition:
Perfect.
