{"id":8458,"date":"2021-07-05T21:18:18","date_gmt":"2021-07-06T02:18:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thecorkscrewconcierge.com\/?p=8458"},"modified":"2021-07-06T15:42:49","modified_gmt":"2021-07-06T20:42:49","slug":"c-elizabeth-napa-cabernet-sauvignon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thecorkscrewconcierge.com\/2021\/07\/c-elizabeth-napa-cabernet-sauvignon\/","title":{"rendered":"C. Elizabeth Could be the Next \u201cIt\u201d Napa Cabernet Sauvignon"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Its hard as hell to make a wine, a Napa Cabernet no less, that can stand out amongst the storied bottles in one of the world\u2019s most storied regions. But I have a story for that. And who doesn\u2019t love a good story? Especially when it\u2019s a love story. And the story of C.Elizabeth Winery<\/a> is a passion project, one of the best types of love stories. A love of family, a love of wine, a love of Napa. And a story that took almost 15 years to be realized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The love of family and the desire to create something first and foremost for themselves (they both previously worked for large beverage brands), but that could become generational is what drove Napa-based Christi and Dave Ficeli to create their wine brand C.Elizabeth. The name \u201cC.Elizabeth\u201d comes from four generations of \u201cElizabeths\u201d on Christi\u2019s side of the family. Each \u2018Elizabeth\u2019 shares traits of strength, confidence, grace, passion, and each \u201cmarches to the beat of their own drum,\u201d shares Christi. The couple couldn\u2019t imagine crafting anything other than a premium Cabernet Sauvignon with its power, grace, complexity, and longevity. They envisioned a \u201cbig bold beautiful Cabernet for the big bold beautiful women in my life,\u201d says Christi. Searching vineyards from California\u2019s central coast up to Washington State, they spent years looking for the perfect spot to grow their fruit. But wouldn\u2019t you know it that home, in Napa where their search actually began, is where lighting would strike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

From the moment they saw the vineyard, they knew it would be the place that would help them create the style of Cabernet Sauvignon that they wanted. The Game Farm Vineyard is nestled in the heart of Oakville in Napa Valley and is comprised of two distinct blocks. The southern half of the vineyard, known as the \u201cRock Pit\u201d block, is so named due to its rocky vineyards that are reminiscent of the galets in France\u2019s Ch\u00e2teauneuf-du-Pape. And what a site it is. \u201cI would look over the creek and try to avoid all the rattlesnakes and see these cabernet vines growing out of rocks. And I was like \u2018man, that looks like a crazy place to have a vineyard,\u201d muses veteran Napa Valley winemaker Bill Nancarrow. \u201cBut I always thought cabernet from here would be really interesting. Game Farm was really a place that intrigued me.\u201d The northern half of the vineyard, the \u201cTrailside\u201d block is also somewhat rocky but stands out more for its red loam topsoil which enhances the texture of the grapes. Both blocks are home to mature vines with stressed roots which translates to intense, concentrated and expressive wines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So how do you make a relatively new Cabernet Sauvignon that stands out from the crowd? First, you make a wine that you truly love and that brings you joy. After that, you hope others that you love and beyond will appreciate it as much as you do. After all, as Dave says, \u201cwhat\u2019s more genuine than doing something that you like?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And what they found was that they liked American oak – far from the norm in Napa Valley. The couple spent years traveling and tasting while trying to nail down their vision of a \u201cperfect for them wine.\u201d During that time, particular traits from several Australian and California cabernets started to emerge and stand out. \u201cOne thing, and it did somewhat surprise us, that really rose to the top was certain wines had this nuance that we couldn\u2019t quite describe,\u201d recalls Dave. \u201cThis spice, this flavor, this essence and when it came down to it, it was American oak.\u201d But it wasn\u2019t all American oak wines, it was specific wines, notably wines like Penfolds 707 and Ridge Monte Bello.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a result, C.Elizabeth is crafted using only select American oak. And this was part of the vision of Christi and Dave from the beginning to help them to achieve a specific, richer palate expression. \u201cInitially, when Christi and Dave said they wanted to use American oak only, it kind of threw me a little bit. But after a little bit of thought, I thought this was really cool because they weren\u2019t looking to replicate anything else,\u201d says Nancarrow. While there were characteristics of other American oak wines that they liked, they were looking to make something distinctly their own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rigorous barrel program at C.Elizabeth is just as important a part of the winemaking process as the superlative fruit from the Game Farm vineyard. Multiple trials with different barrels over the years have helped them zero in on a few select coopergaes and regions within Pennsylvania and Missouri. The Pennsylvania cooperage goes the extra mile to meet Christi and Dave\u2019s exacting standards creating specific, small pore American oak barrels with water bent staves. This helps provide the textural elements and flavor profile that they\u2019re after.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
C.Elizabeth Wines 2014-2017<\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

OK, so I\u2019ll admit that when I read that the C.Elizabeth wines were made with 100% American oak, I was somewhat skeptical. When it comes to Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, the conventional wisdom (with a couple of exceptions) is that French oak rules. Far from being an oak expert, I\u2019ve learned that French oak, which is less dense, leads to more subtle, savory, elegant wines with silky tannins while American oak, which is more dense, provides more pronounced flavors and leads to wines that have sweeter fruit, vanilla, and spice characteristics. But a trained winemaker with a deft hand, can wield the oak so that it doesn\u2019t take over. To be sure, American oak has come a long way and producers the likes of Ridge, Peter Michael, and Silver Oak have made wonderful wines with it. It\u2019s the proper treatment of the oak that has been a game changer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So far there have been four vintages of the amazing C.Elizabeth wines \u2013 from the inaugural 2104 bottling to the 2017 vintage released earlier this year. Every detail from vineyard to bottling to aging is painstakingly thought out. Those meticulous details are certainly reflected in the bottle. These are specialized boutique wines (only a couple hundred cases a year) that command a higher price tag. The most recent vintages are $150 a bottle. So while not an everyday wine for many, these wines make a nice addition to any cellar as well as allow a tasty way to toast a special occasion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*Cover Image Courtesy of C.Elizabeth Winery<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Its hard as hell to make a wine, a Napa Cabernet no less, that can stand out amongst the storied bottles in one of the world\u2019s most storied regions. But I have a story for that. And who doesn\u2019t love a good story? Especially when it\u2019s a love story. And the story of C.Elizabeth Winery<\/a> is …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8465,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[206],"tags":[273,498],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nC. Elizabeth Could be the Next \u201cIt\u201d Napa Cabernet Sauvignon - The Corkscrew Concierge\u2122<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"C.Elizabeth, with its ambitious American oak program and exceptional fruit from the Game Farm vineyard, is Napa Cabernet reimagined.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/thecorkscrewconcierge.com\/2021\/07\/c-elizabeth-napa-cabernet-sauvignon\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"C. Elizabeth Could be the Next \u201cIt\u201d Napa Cabernet Sauvignon - The Corkscrew Concierge\u2122\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"C.Elizabeth, with its ambitious American oak program and exceptional fruit from the Game Farm vineyard, is Napa Cabernet reimagined.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/thecorkscrewconcierge.com\/2021\/07\/c-elizabeth-napa-cabernet-sauvignon\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Corkscrew Concierge\u2122\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CorksConcierge\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-07-06T02:18:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-07-06T20:42:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/thecorkscrewconcierge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/43DCCE4D-D2BF-41BD-BDC5-F04DC030E2F4-scaled.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1439\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kat\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@corksconcierge\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@corksconcierge\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kat\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thecorkscrewconcierge.com\/2021\/07\/c-elizabeth-napa-cabernet-sauvignon\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/thecorkscrewconcierge.com\/2021\/07\/c-elizabeth-napa-cabernet-sauvignon\/\",\"name\":\"C. Elizabeth Could be the Next \u201cIt\u201d Napa Cabernet Sauvignon - The Corkscrew Concierge\u2122\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thecorkscrewconcierge.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thecorkscrewconcierge.com\/2021\/07\/c-elizabeth-napa-cabernet-sauvignon\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thecorkscrewconcierge.com\/2021\/07\/c-elizabeth-napa-cabernet-sauvignon\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/thecorkscrewconcierge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/43DCCE4D-D2BF-41BD-BDC5-F04DC030E2F4-scaled.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-07-06T02:18:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-07-06T20:42:49+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thecorkscrewconcierge.com\/#\/schema\/person\/110de1787d1b6dae424957ef2ab577aa\"},\"description\":\"C.Elizabeth, with its ambitious American oak program and exceptional fruit from the Game Farm vineyard, is Napa Cabernet reimagined.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/thecorkscrewconcierge.com\/2021\/07\/c-elizabeth-napa-cabernet-sauvignon\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thecorkscrewconcierge.com\/2021\/07\/c-elizabeth-napa-cabernet-sauvignon\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/thecorkscrewconcierge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/43DCCE4D-D2BF-41BD-BDC5-F04DC030E2F4-scaled.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/thecorkscrewconcierge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/43DCCE4D-D2BF-41BD-BDC5-F04DC030E2F4-scaled.jpeg\",\"width\":1920,\"height\":1439},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thecorkscrewconcierge.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/thecorkscrewconcierge.com\/\",\"name\":\"The Corkscrew Concierge\u2122\",\"description\":\"Wine.Travel.Experiences.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/thecorkscrewconcierge.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thecorkscrewconcierge.com\/#\/schema\/person\/110de1787d1b6dae424957ef2ab577aa\",\"name\":\"Kat\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thecorkscrewconcierge.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6f9717ee06b5aedc6b432b84564c5074?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6f9717ee06b5aedc6b432b84564c5074?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Kat\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/thecorkscrewconcierge.com\/author\/katcrene\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"C. Elizabeth Could be the Next \u201cIt\u201d Napa Cabernet Sauvignon - The Corkscrew Concierge\u2122","description":"C.Elizabeth, with its ambitious American oak program and exceptional fruit from the Game Farm vineyard, is Napa Cabernet reimagined.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/thecorkscrewconcierge.com\/2021\/07\/c-elizabeth-napa-cabernet-sauvignon\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"C. Elizabeth Could be the Next \u201cIt\u201d Napa Cabernet Sauvignon - The Corkscrew Concierge\u2122","og_description":"C.Elizabeth, with its ambitious American oak program and exceptional fruit from the Game Farm vineyard, is Napa Cabernet reimagined.","og_url":"https:\/\/thecorkscrewconcierge.com\/2021\/07\/c-elizabeth-napa-cabernet-sauvignon\/","og_site_name":"The Corkscrew Concierge\u2122","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CorksConcierge","article_published_time":"2021-07-06T02:18:18+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-07-06T20:42:49+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1920,"height":1439,"url":"https:\/\/thecorkscrewconcierge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/43DCCE4D-D2BF-41BD-BDC5-F04DC030E2F4-scaled.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Kat","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@corksconcierge","twitter_site":"@corksconcierge","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Kat","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/thecorkscrewconcierge.com\/2021\/07\/c-elizabeth-napa-cabernet-sauvignon\/","url":"https:\/\/thecorkscrewconcierge.com\/2021\/07\/c-elizabeth-napa-cabernet-sauvignon\/","name":"C. Elizabeth Could be the Next \u201cIt\u201d Napa Cabernet Sauvignon - The Corkscrew Concierge\u2122","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/thecorkscrewconcierge.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/thecorkscrewconcierge.com\/2021\/07\/c-elizabeth-napa-cabernet-sauvignon\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/thecorkscrewconcierge.com\/2021\/07\/c-elizabeth-napa-cabernet-sauvignon\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/thecorkscrewconcierge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/43DCCE4D-D2BF-41BD-BDC5-F04DC030E2F4-scaled.jpeg","datePublished":"2021-07-06T02:18:18+00:00","dateModified":"2021-07-06T20:42:49+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/thecorkscrewconcierge.com\/#\/schema\/person\/110de1787d1b6dae424957ef2ab577aa"},"description":"C.Elizabeth, with its ambitious American oak program and exceptional fruit from the Game Farm vineyard, is Napa Cabernet reimagined.","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/thecorkscrewconcierge.com\/2021\/07\/c-elizabeth-napa-cabernet-sauvignon\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/thecorkscrewconcierge.com\/2021\/07\/c-elizabeth-napa-cabernet-sauvignon\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/thecorkscrewconcierge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/43DCCE4D-D2BF-41BD-BDC5-F04DC030E2F4-scaled.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/thecorkscrewconcierge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/43DCCE4D-D2BF-41BD-BDC5-F04DC030E2F4-scaled.jpeg","width":1920,"height":1439},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/thecorkscrewconcierge.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/thecorkscrewconcierge.com\/","name":"The Corkscrew Concierge\u2122","description":"Wine.Travel.Experiences.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/thecorkscrewconcierge.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/thecorkscrewconcierge.com\/#\/schema\/person\/110de1787d1b6dae424957ef2ab577aa","name":"Kat","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/thecorkscrewconcierge.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6f9717ee06b5aedc6b432b84564c5074?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6f9717ee06b5aedc6b432b84564c5074?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Kat"},"url":"https:\/\/thecorkscrewconcierge.com\/author\/katcrene\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecorkscrewconcierge.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8458"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecorkscrewconcierge.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecorkscrewconcierge.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecorkscrewconcierge.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecorkscrewconcierge.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8458"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thecorkscrewconcierge.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8458\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecorkscrewconcierge.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8465"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecorkscrewconcierge.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecorkscrewconcierge.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecorkscrewconcierge.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}