Bougetz Cellars, Sardonyx Cabernet Franc, 2021

It was a Sunday. Nothing special on bit of late afternoon sun, a leftover lamb chop, and a bottle I'd been meaning to get round to for weeks. I pulled the cork on the BOUGETZ CELLARS SARDONYX CABERNET FRANC 2021 with zero ceremony and absolutely no expectations. ​ Two sips in, the lamb chop was forgotten entirely. I just sat there, glass in hand, mildly annoyed at myself for waiting this long. ​ Bougetz Cellars is the sort of small Napa Valley producer that serious collectors quietly hoard while the rest of the world looks elsewhere and this Sardonyx is precisely why. Cabernet Franc treated with the full reverence usually reserved for Napa's grandest Cabernets: hand-crafted, micro-production, and built with real patience. ​ The 2021 vintage gave them everything...concentration without bluster, purity without austerity. This is Napa doing Cab Franc the way it was always meant to be done, and it is absolutely singing right now. ​ Dark cherry, violets, graphite, raspberry compote, dried herbs, and a finish laced with pencil shavings and dark spice that just keeps going. Silky, complete, and frankly a little bit dangerous on a lazy Sunday. ​ You've been warned. Open it, and the afternoon is gone.