Robert Craig Affinity Cabernet Sauvignon July 24 Collectors Club

Our 2020 Affinity is a big wine that will reward patience. On our vineyards, the vintage was perfect until it wasn’t. Cabernet ripened slowly and evenly in the moderate summer after an unusually cold and wet spring in Coombsville. The 40-plus-year-old vines that John Caldwell planted so long ago allow this wine to display a piercing sense of the stony hillside property that has always made the base for our Affinity blend. We harvested a first pass that yielded classic, structured Cabernet and Merlot with tiny bunches gently destemmed (we don’t
need additional tannin) before rolling through the optical sorter.

There was to be no second pass unfortunately due to the fires, so our 2020 Affinity production is tiny. You’ll find the signature Coombsville roasted coffee bean, anise, dusty cherry and a touch of cigar box rising from the glass and flowing in the center of the palate. This is an explosive wine that is a bit constrained on release. A number of months in a dark, quiet place will yield wonderful results. Affinity rarely gets the respect it deserves because of the price point, but it is truly one of the great collectibles released in the Napa Valley each year.