June 14, 2024
7 Stellar Cabernet Sauvignons From Napa Valley’s Coombsville AVA
The region is known for wines with dark fruit flavors and soft, rounded tannins
Published on June 14, 2024
By Mike DeSimone and Jeff Jenssen
As a legendary winemaker once said, “It takes Rutherford dust to grow great Cabernet.”
Coombsville was named for Nathan Coombs, one of Napa’s early settlers. Archives and deeds show that he purchased land from Juarez Cayetano in 1845 and that it was once part of the original Rancho Tulocay. Known for its cooler, marine influenced climates, Coombsville was officially recognized as an American Viticultural Area in 2011 but still remains one of Napa Valley’s least visited regions. It has varied elevations ranging between 100 and 1,900 feet and one of its main attributes is that geologists have determined it was an ancient volcanic caldera; its horseshoe-shaped topography allows it to receive (and trap) cooling breezes and early morning fog from the San Pablo Bay due to the relatively short distance between the two. This allows grapes to hang on the vines a little longer and achieve more developed phenolics. Coombsville has soils composed of rock, gravel, ancient lava flow, volcanic ash and rhyolitic tuff sedimentary rock, all of which contribute to the excellent drainage. Because of these factors, wines from Coombsville are known for their dark fruit flavors and soft, rounded tannins. Here are seven we’re enjoying most right now.
J Moss 2019 Steffensen Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon
Coombsville Napa Valley California
James Moss started working in the wine business while living in Dallas. He eventually moved to Napa and began making wine in the 1990s. His first vintage of Merlot was produced in 1998 and he served it at his wedding soon thereafter, and his wife Janet serves as the managing director to this day. Their 2019 Cab is made from grapes grown in the Steffensen Vineyard in Coombsville. It has aromas of dark chocolate, cigar box, black currant, and black cherry. Full bodied with supple tannins, there are flavors of cherry pipe tobacco, brown baking spices, and black plum.