Hill Family “Like A Hawk” Napa Valley Red Wine
We joined son Alec for dinner and to watch our Alma mater Indiana University Hoosiers play Big Ten rival Purdue in NCAA basketball. Alec and Vivianna served a delicious dinner of pasta in a vodka cream sauce and for a wine accompaniment with dinner we trolled Alec’s wine cellar and pulled this hearty Big Red wine for the occasion.
Alec and Vivianna discovered Hill Family Winery and Vineyards during their honeymoon in Napa Valley and since then have acquired this limited release wine as part of his allocation shipments as a member of the Hill Family wine club.
The Hill Family own 120 acres of vineyards with a focus on Atlas Peak, Carneros and Oak Knoll. They are 100% family-farmed, family-owned and family-operated – growing fruit for Napa wineries as well as their own wines.
Hill Family Vineyards "Like A Hawk" Napa Valley Red Wine 2020
The rear label notes that this wine is a tribute to the fifth generation of the Hill Family. This is named for the winemaker's son Landon who is featured on the label. While strolling through the vineyards together, he posed the young toddler up on a fence post. He stood up erect and said, "look, I am like a hawk!", hence the name.
Winemaker notes - In 2020, with all the challenges we had during harvest, we needed to persist in using our best scientific attitude and tools to make our wines. After 16 months, we were able to blend our best lots and make the 2020 “Like a Hawk.” It is a big, elegant, energetic wine, with its well-known color and density, and it is always great to see Landon on the label representing the next generation of Hill family farmers! The 2020 Like a Hawk has bold aromas of black cherry, cassis, vanilla, mocha and a hint of raspberry jam. The palate is big and intense, certainly no pushover – the tannins are present, but they are rich with dark chocolate and cassis."
"With the catastrophic fires of 2020 the wine world has been holding its collective breath to see what will come from this vintage in the Napa Valley. Fortunately scientific advances in dealing with the fruit from that year have been up to the challenge, and we were able to blend our best lots to make 402 cases of a big, elegant, and beautiful Like A Hawk."
The 2020 release was 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 49% Syrah and 1% Viognier.
Dark ruby colored, medium full bodied, dense concentrated round forward blackberry and black cherry fruits accented by spice, cassis and hints of dark mocha chocolate with full round tannins on the lingering finish.RM 91 points.