The 2018 Pym-Rae will soon be released via the Place de Bordeaux. This is just the third vintage made from this vineyard by new owners Alfred Tesseron and his family, who purchased the former Robin Williams estate in 2016. Originally from the Cognac region, where they still distill and blend grande champagne cognacs under the family name, the Tesserons are best known for their classified growth in Pauillac, Bordeaux—Château Pontet-Canet.

Positive Mountain Altitude

The Pym-Rae vineyard consists of nearly 20 acres of mature Cabernet Sauvignon (75%), Merlot (18%), and Cabernet Franc (7%) vines, planted in 1990. Tesseron named the Estate and wine Pym-Rae in respect for the original name given to the vineyard by Robin Williams (Pym and Rae are the middle names of two of Williams’s children). The site is perched in a secluded location at an average altitude of 1,500 feet (500 meters) on Mount Veeder. Until Tesseron purchased the land, the fruit from the vineyard was sold to large wineries and blended away in Napa Valley AVA wines. Currently, the wines are made at a dedicated cellar up on Howell Mountain.

The 2016 and 2017 vintages I tasted for Robert Parker Wine Advocate were sympathetically crafted, evocative expressions of this place. Harvested from September 20 to October 24, 2018, taking full advantage of this more extended, cooler growing season and slow evolution of flavor ripeness, this vintage kicks the layers up a notch.

“Bud break and flowering were slightly late in 2018 due to rainy winter and moderate sunlight that spring,” Alfred’s daughter Justine recently told me. “But ultimately, summer temperatures brought back balance in the vineyard, with sunny days and cool nights. Benefiting from oceanic influence and Pym-Rae’s high-altitude location, ripening occurred gently over time. The growing season ended up being ideal for 2018.

The organic and biodynamic methods are paying off as we see more and more life thriving in the soils and on the property, bringing more balance to the vineyard and ultimately to the wine. The vines are also getting more resistant to the heat and water withdrawal, as their roots are going deeper into the ground over the years, helped by our dry farming methods.

The rewarding result shows intense, precise fruit with soft tannins. It is perfectly balanced with great freshness from our terroir. A mythical vintage! We are learning a lot year by year in this adventure, but I have to say 2018 is truly a milestone for us in terms of quality, and we are really proud to release this wine.”