A bottle of 2022 Black Sears Estate Cabernet Franc wine with a dark label and a gold seal.

BLACK SEARS · HOWELL MOUNTAIN

2022 Black Sears Estate Cabernet Franc

$160.00

The 2022 Estate Cabernet Franc comes from Block Four on Howell Mountain at 2,400 feet — one of the highest elevation Cabernet Franc sites in the Napa Valley. Originally planted to blend with the Cabernet Sauvignon, Thomas Rivers Brown asked us to bottle it on its own in 2008. We did. Fewer than 100 cases per vintage. Allocated exclusively to members. Farmed organically and biodynamically on volcanic, iron-laden soil by the Sears family.

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The nose opens with blueberry, fresh strawberry, tobacco, and baking spices — floral and specific. On the palate, brambly plum, cassis, and leather, with hints of vanilla, anise, and earthy herbs underneath. Tannins are firm and dry but well-integrated — this wine will age for decades. The acidity is softer than most vintages from this site, resulting in a finish that is long, velvety, and unhurried. Mel Tormé called. He approves.

Leg of lamb with mint jelly, roasted turnips, creamed spinach, and an olive-rich Greek salad. Follow with strawberries and cream, an H. Upmann #2, or a little Blue Dream in the bubbler. Turn on Mel Tormé's 1962 classic "Comin' Home Baby" and let yourself be engulfed inside and out by the velvet fog. Meditate on the notion of Home, and what the ramifications are for wine and its sense of place.

Vintage
2022
Varietal
Cabernet Franc
Appellation
Howell Mountain AVA, Napa Valley
Vineyard block
Black Sears Estate Block Four
Elevation
2,400 feet
Winemaker
Thomas Rivers Brown
Harvest date
October 18, 2022
Bottling date
June 2023
Farming
Organic/Biodynamic (totally uncertified)
Aging
20 months French Oak, 2/3 new, 1/3 year-old
ABV
14.5%
Acidity
5.8 g/L
pH
3.74
Drinking window
2024–2040
A bottle of 2022 Black Sears Estate Cabernet Franc wine with a dark label and a gold seal.
A bottle of 2022 Black Sears Estate Cabernet Franc wine on a table.
A bottle of 2022 Black Sears Estate Cabernet Franc wine on fall leaves.

Block Four

Cabernet Franc was never supposed to be the point. It went into the ground in the 1990s to add complexity to the Cabernet Sauvignon blend — a supporting role on a mountain already dominated by one varietal. Then Thomas Rivers Brown tasted it on its own. That was the end of the conversation.

Block Four sits on the same volcanic, iron-laden soil as the rest of the estate — kaolinite clay at 2,400 feet, one of the highest elevation Cabernet Franc sites in the Napa Valley. The mountain does something particular to this grape here. Floral, earthy, spicy — and entirely itself.

Fewer than 100 cases per vintage. Allocated exclusively to members. If you want to know why, come up the mountain and taste it.

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Every wine we make comes from the same 24 acres on Howell Mountain. Different varietals, different blocks - the same wild, specific place.

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