Spring Valley Vineyards Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

Spring Valley Vineyards secret reveal Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

Linda grilled steaks with roasted potatoes and haricot verts with grilled onions. I pulled from the cellar this negociant remarketed Napa Cabernet from the Sping Mountain District.  

This follows the enjoyable Fantesca Spring Mountain District Napa Cabernet we had just the other night.

I’ve written about this premium label that was sold in the secondary market through the private label negociant brand in previous blogposts, revisited, excerpted below. 

Ninety Plus Cellars Lot 150 Spring Mountain Cabernet 

This write-up of this label is a repeat of an earlier post where I wrote about Ninety Plus Cellars and their Negociant model of wine marketing. They buy surplus juice or bulk wine or bottled product, and then private-label it with their branding featuring an anonymized 'Lot' reference number tied to the source of the wine. Such arrangements are typically done under a non-disclosure agreement to shield the original brand/producer. In this case, Ninety Plus Cellars, Lot 150, is a Napa Valley Spring Mountain District Cabernet Sauvignon. 

This case is especially interesting in that when one pulls the cork of these bottles, the cork reveals the true source of the wine, Spring Mountain Vineyards. Apparently, in this case, the wine was already bottled but not yet labeled for distribution. It was then acquired by Ninety Plus Cellars who packaged it for retail sale under their negociant general brand that masks the supplier. The packaging, however, reveals the original branding of the producer on the original cork in the bottle. According to the Ninety+ Cellars website, the "Source Label Price" for this wine was: $79.99, hence the need or practice of anonymity or not disclosing the original source of the wine. The Ninety+ price is about half of that - high QPR (quality-price-ratio) indeed.  

For the Lot 150 release, the rear label of the Ninety Plus packaging speaks to Spring Mountain District as the source for the product, without attribution to a particular grower or producer.

When I purchased the first original bottle, I imagined who the source of this wine might be, thinking about the different Spring Mountain District suppliers of Cabernet Sauvignon. Spring Mountain Vineyards was one of those potential suppliers that I considered, but I presumed it would never be revealed or confirmed as the source. But, imagine my surprise when, upon pulling the cork, they were revealed to be the producer. 

In this case, Ninety Plus Cellars apparently bought what they call “sparklers” - bottled wines that have not yet been labeled. Producers will bottle their wines, but hold off applying the labels until release so as not to risk the labels being soiled during aging, thereby reducing their market value. Apparently Spring Mountain Vineyards sold the bottled, unlabeled produce in the after market for resale in the rebranded private label. 

Typically, producers desire remaining anonymous so as not to diminish the price point of their wines, by selling them through a rebranding reseller such as this. In this case, that approach was undermined by already having processed the bottles with brand identifying corks, revealing their true identity/source. Alas, a great value find for the consumer, obtaining this premium brand at the secondary private label market price!  

This is not the first occurrence of this happening as I recall at least one other occasion where the product was bottled and the cork revealed the original producer source of the wine. On at least one other occasion, the source was pretty much revealed or confirmed based upon the published detailed percentages of the blend of the wine.

I've written much in these pages about Ninety Plus Cellars Lot 101 which I enjoyed immensely, and lamented often the mis-fortune of not knowing the source so as to be able to purchase more product in subsequent vintage releases of the label. Since, in my experience, Ninety + tend to have more misses than hits to suit my personal taste, I tend to buy a bottle and try it before I load up on any label. Here is another case where I went back and bought more, and then did so again. 

Ninety Plus Cellars Lot 150 Napa Valley Spring Mountain District Cabernet Sauvignon 2013

This is a blend of mostly Cabernet Sauvignon, with Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Petit Verdot aged 22 months in French Oak. 

Back in 2020 I wrote, “Dark garnet colored, medium full bodied, firm structured backbone, complex concentrated blackberry and black currant fruits with layers of firm bone dry tannins with notes of oak, spice, hints of dark mocha, anise, leather and dust.’

“Needs a bit more time to settle and not for the feint of heart with the rock hard tannins but if you like that style (which I do) then this is a great find at a good QPR (quality price ratio) value.”

Tonight five years later, at a dozen years, the important fill level and cork were still pristine, the hard tannins were indeed relaxed, but the fruits had also integrated and matured and seemed much sweeter than earlier, surprisingly, almost excessively so.  
 

RM 91 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2793688

https://store.ninetypluscellars.com/lot-150-cabernet-sauvignon-spring-mountain-district-napa-valley-california-2013-p419.aspx