2019 Gaslighter Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain Napa Valley

I'm from Texas, so I did not come to this bottle neutral.

The Chicks started in Dallas in 1989, playing bluegrass on street corners for tips. Sisters Martie Maguire and Emily Strayer handled the fiddle and the banjo. Natalie Maines, a Lubbock girl, joined in 1995 to sing, and everything changed. Wide Open Spaces and Fly each sold more than ten million copies. Thirteen Grammys followed. If you drove anywhere in Texas in 1999, "Cowboy Take Me Away" was on the radio.

Gaslighter is their 2020 album, their first in 14 years. It is also the name they put on their wine.

They were hands-on about it. They partnered with the Bundschu family, six generations in Sonoma since 1858, who put their winemaker Joe Uhr on the project. The band sat in on the sourcing, the style and the final blend.

For the Cabernet they went up Howell Mountain, on the east side of Napa Valley. The appellation starts at 1,400 feet, above the fog that fills the valley most mornings. The fruit comes from a single vineyard at the peak. Grapes up there are small and thick-skinned, which is why the wines run dark and firm.

This one is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, aged 20 months in French oak, 60% of it new. It is the top wine in their lineup, and it was first sold only through the band.

At seven years old it has had time to settle. I would decant it for an hour and serve it with smoked brisket or a ribeye. Put Wide Open Spaces on while you pour.

2019 was a fabulous year for Napa Valley. Wine Spectator awarded this year a 97-point score, and Vinous Media gave it 96 points saying that "The 2019 Napa Valley Cabernets have turned out beautifully. 2019 is a very high-quality vintage of Cabernets that will be easy to drink and enjoy with minimal cellaring. The extra kick of late heat softened the tannins, making the wines a pleasure to taste and drink."