Handicraft Matters
Our love letter to the Napa Valley of yesteryear
Pilcrow makes Cabernet Sauvignon from three distinct Mountain sites throughout the Napa Valley which celebrate an old-school wine style made famous by legends like Nathan Fay, Lee Stewart, and Bob Travers. Wines that are high-toned, unadulterated, and that celebrate character (and characters).
Archer & Byrd
Mt. Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon from a non-hedged, dry-farmed, organic vineyard sitting in blue shale - blue fruit, black olive, and violet flavors with long and precise finish; chiseled.
Ghost Block
Yountville Cabernet Sauvignon from a fallen-down mountain top revealing two epochs of terroir - a little sprezzatura with soft, black fruit a touch of olive tapenade and plush, gentle tannins.
Granite Lake
Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon grown in the red, low-vigor soils on the ridge line at 2,097’ - our Cab with the most ballast and intensity; warm, red fruit, plum, rose, rainwater-minerality, and herb.
NO GLYPHOSATE. EVER.
Commentary from Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, The Wine Independent
“Jonah and Sara’s single-vineyard Pilcrow wines are beautifully crafted, pure, shimmery Cabernets that demonstrate ripeness as naturally expressed by each vintage and place without trying to shoehorn them into a dogmatic style.”
95+
The single-varietal 2021 Archer & Byrd Cabernet Sauvignon is deep garnet-purple in color. Notes of black cherries, fresh blueberries, and blackcurrant pastilles prance from the glass, followed by showy nuances of menthol, iris bulb, fragrant soil, and incense. Light to medium-bodied in the mouth, the palate is refreshing and tight-knit, delivering firm, grainy tannins and a lively backbone to support the delicate fruit, finishing with a quiet intensity. This comes from a biodynamic, dry-farmed single vineyard at an elevation of 1,020 feet on Mt. Veeder and was aged 22 months in French barriques, 28% new. 138 cases were made.
96
Deep garnet-purple in color, the single-varietal 2021 Ghost Block Cabernet Sauvignon sashays out with gregarious notes of Morello cherries, black raspberries, and redcurrant preserves leading to hints of red roses, iron ore, underbrush, and cinnamon stick. The medium-bodied palate is vibrant and racy, delivering shimmery red and black berry layers with ripe, grainy tannins, finishing on a lingering ferrous note. This comes from an organic-certified single vineyard in Yountville and was aged 22 months in French barriques, 30% new. 242 cases were made.
97+
Deep garnet-purple in color, the single-varietal 2021 Granite Lake Cabernet Sauvignon rockets out with a firework display of ripe blackberries, mulberries, and warm cassis opening out to an undercurrent of tapenade, cardamom, and garrigue plus a waft of star anise. The medium-bodied palate is completely coated with ripe black berry and earthy layers supported by very firm yet ripe tannins and beautiful tension, finishing with lots of long-lasting savory sparks. This is like sipping a beautiful mountainside forest. It comes from a single vineyard on Howell Mountain at an elevation of 2,097 feet and was aged 22 months in French barriques, 30% new. 235 cases were made.
Archer & Byrd, Mt. Veeder
Foggy. Cool. Ancient Pacific Ocean Soils. Blue.
Ghost Block, Yountville
Nested megaslides give rise to a unicorn ‘Mountain’ site.
Granite Lake, Howell Mountain
Iron-rich, volcanic dust and clay. Like Roland-Garros. Red.