Pied a Terre Cabernet Sauvignon Sonoma County 2018

Richard Luftig spent 25 years buying wine for New York, and Pied à Terre is his answer to a problem he knew intimately: serious, affordable California Cabernet had all but vanished. The name means foot to earth, and the project runs on vineyards rather than ego, drawing fruit from sites in Dry Creek Valley and Knights Valley, with winemaking from a roster that has included Clay Mauritson and, today, Stephane Vivier, and a house policy of simply not bottling in vintages that disappoint, as in 2011 and 2020. The 2018, from a long, cool, unhurried growing season, shows the structure and concentration of a classic year: dark cherry and cassis, mocha and cedar from oak, and firm tannins carrying a long finish. The Cabernet a wine buyer went looking for and finally had to make himself.