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May 27, 2023

California winemaker motivated to ‘keep alive the legacy’ of 135

Visitors can taste Mayacamas wines and shop luxury retail items at the downtown Napa tasting room or at the estate, located at 1155 Lokoya Road. They can tour the vineyard through an off-road mountain

Visitors can taste Mayacamas wines and shop luxury retail items at the downtown Napa tasting room or at the estate, located at 1155 Lokoya Road. They can tour the vineyard through an off-road mountain tasting experience.

Mayacamas Vineyards announced in early August the release of its 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon and the re-release of its acclaimed 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon.

The winery, with two locations in Napa, California, is known for its simultaneous release of new vintage wines alongside corresponding wines that are 10 years older to offer a unique side-by-side tasting opportunity.

“2019 was an exceptional vintage for Cabernet Sauvignon at Mayacamas,” said Braiden Albrecht, the winemaker at Mayacamas. “Healthy winter rains, followed by a warm but consistent summer and mild weather at harvest, yielded fruit with great freshness and integrity. The 2019 Cabernet has a balanced tannin structure with a beautiful red fruit profile and savoriness that aligns well with the 2009 vintage’s elegant fruit concentration.”

The 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon was harvested by hand from mid-September through mid-October. Fermentation occurred in concrete (65%) and stainless steel (35%) tanks. Fermented dry, the wine was racked into large format foudre for 20 months, then neutral French oak barrique for 14 months before bottling. The 2019 opens with lilac, dried sage, and graphite. Wild mountain blueberry, maraschino cherry, and blackberry round out the fruit profile.

As for the 2009 vintage, that is driven by “focused red berry fruit: vibrant raspberry tones complemented by wonderfully concentrated cranberry and anise, according to the winery’s marketing materials. Primal tones of pine, cedar, and thyme broaden the palate offering savory delicacy with a laser like focus and verve with considerable length on the back palate.”

Both wines will be available to wine club members and online at Mayacamas.com. They will also be available in limited national distribution. SRPs are $185 for a 750 mL bottle of the 2019 release and $300 for a 750 mL bottle of the 2009 vintage.

Mayacamas Vineyards, located high on the slopes of Mt. Veeder, was founded in 1889. It was purchased in July 2013 by the Jay Schottenstein family, marking the beginning of a new era there. While the winery has since undergone a meticulous restoration, there has been a renewed focus on the details of great viticulture and winemaking, according to the marketing materials.

Visitors can taste Mayacamas wines and shop luxury retail items at the downtown Napa tasting room (1256 First Street; open Wednesday through Sunday; tastings start at $35 per person; 707.294.1433) or do a tour and tasting at the estate (1155 Lokoya Road; open daily; tastings are $125 per person; 707.224.4030).

Albrecht grew up in Sonoma and then went on to UC Berkeley, where he studied agriculture and resource economics. According to this 2020 profile in the Sonoma Index-Tribune, he spent summers in the Himalaya where another Sonoma graduate (Elyse Gonzales Sahota) had started an adventuring company that Albrecht helped out with, called Himalayan Explorers. In addition, he spent a few harvests in the Southern Hemisphere in New Zealand and Australia.

He was hired at Mayacamas in 2013 and took charge of wine production with consulting winemaker Andy Ericksen a couple of years later when Nathan Littlejohn left to start Monkshood Cellars in Colorado.

Here are responses from Albrecht to several questions sent by PennLive:

Braiden Albrecht joined the team at Mayacamas Vineyards in Napa, California, in 2013.

Q, What’s the history of the co-releases as you are doing with the Cab Sauvignons and how different are the two wines usually when they are compared?

A, We have a long tradition of offering our current vintage Cabernet Sauvignon alongside a Cabernet Sauvignon from out library. We are proud of our wine’s ability to age and like to showcase that. It’s a great opportunity to put the wines into context, especially if you enjoy both side by side. It can illuminate how our wine style evolves over time in bottle and also show how vintage variation impacts the wine’s profile. Given that goal, we’ve always held back significant production, especially on Cabernet Sauvignon, to be released at the right intervals in the future.

The typical cadence is to offer a wine that is 10 years older than the current release. Our 2023 release included the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon and 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon. If you visit the winery you may also be able to add some 1999 Cabernet Sauvignon from 1.5L. It’s a pretty cool opportunity to experience a vertical tasting.

Q, I’m always blown away, writing mostly about East Coast wines and wineries, by the history of places like Mayacamas. What has it been like working there and carrying on such a long tradition?

A, The history of Mayacamas is quite remarkable. The opportunity to work on a project with 135 years of grape growing and winemaking tradition is unique in the new world. We certainly take the responsibility of continuing that legacy seriously. It’s an honor to carry on the traditions and keep alive the legacy. We often talk about being stewards of the land and the legacy at Mayacamas. We are just one chapter in a long history, and we hope to leave the place better than we found it.

Q, I saw a story written on your in the Sonoma Index-Tribune. In 2020 .. “I’m really excited about the next chapter here,” he said. “We have the redevelopment of 20 new acres that will be coming online in the next three years, which are replanted in different ways; new places, new varietals, different orientations, spacings and clonal material. There’s a lot of new flavors for us to incorporate, seek out, and tame. So, there’s a lot to learn.” Have those acres been developed, what are a couple of highlights of the redevelopment, and how much will it help to evolve the winery?

A, We basically re-planted all 50 acres of vineyard over the last 10 years. That has been a really fun project to be a part of. There is so much to think about on a property like this – 485 acres and 50 acres of vineyard scattered across that. There a great deal of variation up here, from elevation, soil, wind, aspect, etc. every block has it’s own identity. I really love how the Cabernet Sauvignon plantings are coming along. We have some ridge top blocks like Sunset and Top that grow on very thin, rocky soils with extreme exposure. These blocks ripen early and have great intensity. Golden Hill and West Meadow on the other hand sit in a more protected valley, ripen a touch later with vibrant acidity. Overall there is an exciting array of flavor and structure to work with.

The view from the deck at Mayacamas Vineyards in Napa, California.

Q. How big of a team do you have out there and how long have they been together?

A, Our team, including winemaking, vineyard operations and sales is 20 people. It’s a great team across the board. We are fortunate to have a group that’s been together for a little while now. There was a good amount of the team that started in 2013. As new people have joined the team, there’s been a quick integration and overall the team has a big family type vibe.

Q, I see you are using more concrete than stainless steel. Are there advantages or improvements you have seen fermenting in concrete?

A, Concrete fermentation has been a part of Mayacamas winemaking for a very long time. The first concrete tanks were added to the winery in 1950 or so. They are concrete vats that we use for open top fermentation. It’s great to have both concrete and stainless steel (and occasionally oak 500L) as tools. I think the concrete is great for wines that need more oxygen during fermentation – especially red wines with a tendency toward reduction or sluggish fermentation.

Q, What’s the most enjoyment you have doing what you are doing for a living? And when you manage to get away .. what other interests do you have?

A, There are a lot of great things about making wine. There is nothing quite like the excitement of harvest. There is an energy in the air that time of year that never gets old. One of the things that I love about winemaking and farming is that work ebbs and flows with seasons to some extent. When the vines are dormant post-harvest through the spring, that’s really where a good chunk of downtime can come in. I love to ski and spend time in the mountains, and that usually lines up with our quite season at the winery. I have a 3-year-old son and I’m pretty excited to get him back on skis this winter.

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