By Bruce Neyers

Thursday 19th December, 2024

The 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon ‘Napa Valley’ – What beautiful weather

I can still remember the great weather we enjoyed during the 2019 growing season here in the Napa Valley. I was traveling a lot in those days, so I relied on daily weather reports from home as I darted around the country, and I fondly recall the enthusiasm that was part of the news almost every day. Great wine vintages, an accomplished vintner once told me, are those when nothing goes wrong. So it was with the 2019 growing season. The rainfall was plentiful – especially late in the season as spring approached. The ground was moist for our cover crop, and the vines were healthy as we entered frost season. Our wind machines were used only a few times that year, and when we started the early phase of flowering, the winds were calm, temperatures were mild, and the air was dry. After a healthy crop-set, our job was to wait patiently through a glorious summer with few heat spikes, and a pleasantly long autumn of foggy mornings and sunny days. The harvest was late that year – as it always is in our best vintages – and we began picking the Ron Smith Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon in Oak Knoll on October 29. There was ample of hang-time for complete physiological ripening and the complexity associated with it, and our local Farm Bureau reported that while the volume was slightly less than average, the grape quality promised an amazing vintage. We see that now, and when Liz, Barbara and I recently tasted the 2019 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon bottling with Tadeo, the winery tasting room was loaded with smiles. Jim Gordon of ‘The Wine Enthusiast’ seems to agree:

“This saturated, broad and super-ripe wine is laden with blueberries, cooked cherries, dark chocolate and cream flavors on a luxurious texture of soft tannins and soft acidity. Best through 2030. 93 POINTS”—Jim Gordon

It’s cold again in the Napa Valley, and we’ve just experienced our first serious rain of the season. A week-long downpour just before Thanksgiving gave us over 11 inches of rain, and we couldn’t be happier. The 2025 growing season is starting out just as the 2019 vintage did. We’d be delighted with a similar year

Black Bean and Corn Soup

Ingredients

• • ½ pound Rancho Gordo Domingo Rojo beans — the beans can be soaked overnight to shorten cooking time
  • 4 cups of water
  • ¼ bunch tender green and white stems of green onions
  • 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
  • ½ yellow onion, finely chopped
  • ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 cup tomato sauce
  • 1 cup fresh corn kernels
  • ½ cup chopped cilantro
  • ½ avocado, cut into pieces
  • Diamond Crystal Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper

Preparation

1. In a large pot combine beans, water, green onions, 1 tablespoon olive oil and 2 teaspoons salt.
2. Bring to a boil and cook for 10 minutes. Reduce to medium-low heat, cover and simmer until the beans are tender.
3. Approximately 1 to 1 ½ hours. Uncover the pot and let the beans cool.
4. Remove the remains of the green onions.
5. In a skillet warm the ½ cup olive oil and add the onion. Sauté until the onion is clear in color.
6. Add the onion to the beans and their broth and continue cooking until the flavors are blended.
7. Add the tomato sauce and corn. Cook for a few minutes as the soup thickens.
8. Correct the seasoning and serve with chopped cilantro and avocado pieces.