Cathiard Vineyard is perched slightly above the valley floor on the lower slopes of the Mayacamas mountains with vineyards straddling both the Rutherford and St. Helena appellations. Over the decades, this historic property has featured numerous owners and vineyard and winemaking heritage dating back to the 1840’s. This exciting new estate is owned by Florence and Daniel Cathiard of Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte and several other Chateau in Bordeaux. 2020 is their first vintage release and the wines have already received rave reviews. These exceptional wines are crafted by head winemaker Justine Labbé and famed consulting winemaker Michel Rolland. The estate produces three unique expressions, each offer different personalities, the one characteristic all have in common is their superb balance. These are not heavy Napa Valley contemporary red wines, rather they have finesse and freshness, lively individualistic personalities and show extremely well with food.

The Founding Brothers is produced in homage to James and William Rennie the founders of the original winery on the property and images of both are portrayed on this label. In 1880, the two brothers, said goodbye to their native Scotland and set sail to California with high ambition in Napa Valley. Five years later they had built a stone winery and planted 60 acres of vineyards covering the Rutherford and St. Helena AVAs. The same estate is today owned by the Cathiard family. Founding Brothers is produced exclusively with estate grapes to capture the energy and singularity of this very special terroir. This bottling offers plenty of fruit but also shows some spice notes on both the bouquet and palate. It lingers with notes of dried cigar on the juicy and mouthwatering finish. The tannins are present but do not dominate. The 2020 bottling is a blend of 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Franc. It undergoes a naturally occurring malolactic fermentation in new French oak, followed by barrel-aging for 16-18 months, 40% new French oak and 20% large Foudre barrels.