Like in previous vintages, Tony Biagi has made a delicious, “enjoyable now” Napa Valley Red comprised of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Petite Sirah. As he describes, the 2021 HGIII is “the most complex and layered vintage to date. Explosive aromatics of blackberry, Bing cherry and pomegranate intertwine with savory layers of pink peppercorn, fennel and crushed rose petals. The palate presents rich tones of crème de cassis, black cherry, and baker’s chocolate, which evolve into secondary characteristics of red currant, vanilla bean, and pipe tobacco. A beautiful balance of precise natural acidity with a weighted yet broad, silky mouthfeel.” Hourglass began as a 6-acre property that was founded by vintner Jeff Smith's father, Ned, in 1976. Where an outcropping of the Mayacamas mountains jutted eastward, the Napa Valley floor was pinched to a near figure eight (like an hourglass), and this unclaimed knoll of hillside lay precisely in the narrowest point in the bench of the Vaca Mountains in what is now the Calistoga AVA. Today, it has grown to 24 acres of vine, between their two estate vineyards.