Nose
The 2010 “El Coyote” Cabernet explodes with dark fruit smells and an almost beef broth aroma. This wine walks right up the line between fruity and savory, yet jumps right over to the savory side. If you’ve heard of “umami,” the savory flavor found in certain dried mushrooms, soy sauce, and salty cheeses, you’ll recognize it in our 2010 “El Coyote.”
Palate
While savory in aroma, it delivers plenty of fruit and nervous energy in the mouth. I highly recommend decanting this wine (as I do with all 2010s) to lessen the tension between what you smell and what you taste.
Growing Conditions
The growing season in 2010 was the coolest on our estate since its inception in 1999. Compared to the weather data for 1998 and 1997, it was still the coolest in recent history. Lucky for us at Kuleto Estate, we have plenty of sunshine despite the lack of heat. The majority of our vineyard blocks lie above the fog-line, so even if Napa Valley is socked in, our vines enjoy the first sun of the day. What does a cool vintage mean for a mountain-top vineyard? It means wines that strongly express their varietal character, have tremendous natural acidity for length of mouth-feel and aging, and modest finished alcohols. Whenever you hear that the Valley has suffered a cold or damp vintage, look to the mountains particularly on the east side) for exceptional wines.
Wine lots and barrels selected for our “El Coyote” Cabernet Sauvignon don’t necessarily come from a particular spot on the estate ( à la Vineyard Designate), but rather share common flavor and structural attributes that highlight the dark, meaty, rich, black fruit aspects of the variety. To further highlight these characters in a cool vintage, we often co-ferment or blend immediately post fermentation with varieties that share these same qualities.
Aging
30 Months 22% new French oak; Only one racking
