2019 Hess-Persson Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, The Lion Tamer, Napa Valley

An offshoot of the iconic Hess Collection, the Hess-Persson Estate is a collaboration between this seminal Mount Veeder winery and Tim and Sabrina Persson, a pioneering couple with very international roots and a passion for making intensely bold and flavorful wines.  The lion on the label comes both from the Hess side of the family and theirs; a Persson family crest and, according to Tim Persson, an homage to Lions Head Mountain, a place in South Africa very close to the family.  One of the most unique wines in the Hess pantheon, this focuses on the Persson’s Napa Valley Floor vineyard of Cabernet Sauvignon but with a dash of Petite Sirah and, importantly, some of the outstanding mountain-grown Malbec for which Hess has become justly famous.  This is not a shy and retiring Napa Valley Cabernet!   The Petite Sirah (5% of the blend) makes its contribution felt in both the wine’s dark, deeply-pitched nuances of blue- and boysenberry and its finishing acidity and tannin which give verve and structure to a wine that revels in all of Napa’s abundant sunshine, while the 10% Malbec fills out the mid-palate, covers the tannins and adds a lovely sense of earthy, graphite-y complexity to the wine.  Big and bold, it’s a wine rich with plum compote, mulberry essence, tapenade, espresso and mint chocolate and a particularly long, plush finish.  We were really impressed with how this full-throttle Napa Valley Cab managed both power and polish at the same time. Perfect for a big Porterhouse off the grill, these 30 bottles are also priced well enough for Tuesday night hamburgers, ribs or pork chops.  And some Cab lovers out there may decide just not serve it with anything else at all other than a large glass!  It’s a fine deal.  Only problem?  We could only get 5 six-bottle cases.  As they say, first come, first served!