2012 Vineyard 7 & 8 Cabernet Sauvignon Correlation Napa Valley 750 ml

Of Causation and “Correlation”

In 2007, Wesley Steffens sent the Napa Valley rumor mill churning when word leaked out that he had lured the inimitable Luc Morlet to Vineyard 7 & 8. Morlet was fresh off a six-year stint at the helm of Peter Michael, where he turned out a series of mind-boggling Cabernet Sauvignon “Les Pavots.” The introduction to Morlet came from Martha McClellan, Wesley’s mentor from his days working as cellarmaster at Harlan Estate.

Seven years later, Steffens would ignite a new round of excitement when news of Morlet’s decision to focus on his own brand led to the incredible full-circle hiring of McClellan as winemaker for Vineyard 7 & 8.

We’ve spent many afternoons in the breathtaking tasting room at Vineyard 7 & 8 atop Spring Mountain. The powerful mountain tannins from their estate fruit make for impressively age-worthy wines.

When we first learned that McClellan would be taking the reins from Morlet, we rolled the dice on securing a hefty allocation of the remaining 2012 and still-unreleased 2013 Vineyard 7 & 8 Cabernet Sauvignon Correlation Spring Mountain District. We had a hunch that WineAccess members would approve. Here’s why:

During his tenure at Vineyard 7 & 8, Morlet stunned Robert Parker year after year by coaxing hedonistically rich, voluminous, satin-silky estate wines from powerful and rough Spring Mountain tannins. Parker has praised the “brilliant” winemaker’s “non-interventionalistic” winemaking techniques. Parker has at least as much to rave about in McClellan, a winemaker we’ve been following since her days at Merryvale, before her impressive work at Harlan, Sloan, and Blankiet. No wonder her “extraordinary resume, limitless talent, and a perfectionist, nearly obsessive attitude toward making world-class wines” caught Parker’s attention.

While the 2012 “Correlation” began under Morlet’s early supervision, his departure enabled Martha, with assistance from Wesley, to shape the final aging, blending, and bottling. Martha and Wesley then worked in tandem to bottle the next vintage, and once the 2013s were resting in the cellar, they devised a new future for the Correlation label. Wesley is expected to announce the details in the next few months.

We’re told the remaining bottles of the 2012 “Correlation” — which began under Morlet, and were finished by McClellan — are some of the last to bear the Vineyard 7 & 8 label. That means this one-of-a-kind wine, benefiting from a handoff from superstar winemaker to superstar winemaker, is also the last of its kind.

Deep ruby color, with Bordeaux-like garnet hues. Luscious black currant and dark berry aromas, lightly laced with new-wood cedar. Silky and supple on the attack, with explosive flavors of cassis, blackberry, and mountain blueberry. Deeply powerful, with plenty of aging potential. Parker called it “impressive, full-bodied, multidimensional” and agrees it “should drink beautifully for 10-15+ years.”

When Parker dropped 93-95 points on the 2012 “Correlation,” we had one thought: Good thing we rolled those dice. The last Morlet effort, and the first of McClellan’s. The remaining 600 bottles of “Correlation” not allocated to the mailing list at $125/bottle, still bearing the Vineyard 7 & 8 label and resting in the cellars atop Spring Mountain, are earmarked for WineAccess — at the EXCLUSIVE original release price of $85/bottle. Shipping included on 3.