Paul Hobbs founded his eponymous winery in 1991 following a formative career that included stints at Opus One and Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars. His winery has built its reputation on single-vineyard Cabernet Sauvignons from distinct sites across Napa Valley, pursuing a purist expression of place with minimal intervention. The Nathan Coombs Estate in the Coombsville AVA represents one of Hobbs’s most important Napa holdings.

Coombsville sits in the cool southeastern corner of the Napa Valley, where volcanic basalt soils provide excellent drainage and the influence of San Pablo Bay fog moderates temperatures significantly compared with the warmer valley floor. The Nathan Coombs Estate’s 2015 vintage benefited from a long, even growing season in a year widely regarded as one of the finest in Napa’s recent history, producing concentrated, structured fruit from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon fermented and aged in 100% new French oak, as was Hobbs’s practice at that time.

Coombsville earned official AVA status in 2011, and Paul Hobbs was among the first to spotlight the appellation’s potential for producing Cabernets of notable structure and longevity. The Nathan Coombs Estate site has attracted consistent critical attention across multiple vintages, and the 2015 is regarded as the wine at something of a peak expression. Scores of 97 points from James Suckling and 96 from the Wine Advocate reflect its considerable standing.

Deep purple-black with a vivid rim. Aromas of dark cherry, cassis, powdered chocolate and graphite, expanding to dried herbs, lavender and slate-like minerality. Full-bodied and firmly structured with compact, grainy tannins and vibrant acidity, the palate is intense and layered, finishing very long with a mineral precision that will reward extended cellaring.

Dark plums, blackcurrant essence, dark chocolate, underbrush, mint and licorice. Full-bodied and very intense, the tannins compact and grainy, with a very long finish bringing all the fruit together in powerful conclusion.  — James Suckling

A very deep purple-black, scented of bright red and black currants with an earthy undercurrent of underbrush and mossy bark plus suggestions of lavender and cloves. The medium to full-bodied palate is firm and chewy with good length.  — Wine Advocate