James and California winemaker Paul Hobbs discuss how the 2019 vintage turned out in Sonoma County and Napa Valley James asks Paul what some of the key points of the vintage are and "why it made such beautiful wines."
"We had good rains in the winter and particularly late spring [so] the soil profile was pretty well recharged with water after we had years of drought," Paul explains. "We had heat spikes, but they were very minor; very short duration ... so the growing season was really cool overall. And then fall was mild ... and the cropload was naturally balanced so the vines seemed to recalibrate after the immense 2018 vintage. So it was a well-balanced growing season."
James said of 2019: "The wines show really nice fruit-forward character, but still many of the wines have some of the reserve of '18." Paul agrees, saying '18 is surprising good, but '19 is a "notch up above '18, but they're different," with 2019 having a "little more meat on the bone ... very good delineation, very nicely faceted and layered and great depth, and the tannins are very refined."
