Coup de Foudre is a small Napa Valley winery whose name means a lightning strike, or love at first sight. The 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon comes from an excellent, even Napa season and is a rich, dark-fruited wine in a Bordeaux-style blend.
About This Wine
The 2019 is 88% Cabernet Sauvignon with 6% Merlot, 3% Petit Verdot and 3% Malbec, and about 870 cases were made. It is bottled at 14.8%. 2019 gave Napa a long, mild growing season without major heat spikes at harvest, and the wines tend to combine ripe fruit with fresh acidity and fine tannin. This one sits on the generous, plush side of that spectrum, and has the structure to keep improving for several more years.
Tasting Profile
- Nose: Fresh blackberry, cassis and dark cherry, with melted chocolate, cedar and sweet spice.
- Palate: Full-bodied and polished, with deep dark fruit, cocoa and firm but ripe tannins.
- Finish: Long, with cassis, vanilla and toasted oak lingering.
Serving & Food
Give it 45 to 60 minutes in a decanter, then pour at 16 to 18°C into Bordeaux glasses. It is drinking well now and should hold to around 2032. Grilled ribeye, roast leg of lamb, char siu or a hard aged cheese all go well.
How to Enjoy
Steak dinners and anyone looking for a smaller-production Napa Cabernet from a very good year.
Product Details
Producer: Coup de Foudre
Country: USA
Appellation: Napa Valley, California
Vintage: 2019
Grape Variety / Blend: 88% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Merlot, 3% Petit Verdot, 3% Malbec
ABV: 14.8%
Category: Fine Wine
Format: 750ml
About the Winery
The winery belongs to John Schwartz, who began his wine career in 1988 exporting California wine to Japan and is also behind the Amuse Bouche label. The name comes from a story from his youth, when a stranger at a party in the French Alps used the phrase on the woman who would become his wife. The first Coup de Foudre vintage was 2004.
Winemaker Kent Jarman, formerly of Duckhorn and Spring Mountain Vineyard, has made the wines since 2007. Production stays small, at a few thousand cases across a range that includes Cabernet, the 37.2 Cuvée blend, Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc, and the team farms a handful of acres near Calistoga as well as buying from growers around the valley.