Broman Cellars

Bob Broman is not well known outside of Napa Valley but he’s a giant to the inner circle of wine wonks around the country. That’s because he keeps a very low profile, this despite having been one of Warren Winiarski’s winemakers, in a gloriously long line of them, at Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars. It would be facile to say that Broman is a winemaker’s winemaker, but that’s what he is; a winemaker that makes great wines, that like the man himself, have a low profile.

Perhaps that’s why the new folks, at the former Guenoc Winery Lake Couinty, in all their prescient wisdom, gave Broman the boot recently after only 15 months on the job. It’s decidedly their loss.

With this Cabernet Sauvignon for his own brand, in an excellent vintage, Broman has put together fruit from two of über-grower Andy Beckstoffer’s storied vineyards – the famed Georges III in Rutherford and the underappreciated Dr. Crane in St. Helena. Broman rounded out the wine with 4% Merlot from an undisclosed source in the Oak Knoll District.

The wine is beautifully deep-flavored with tar and earth notes in the nose. On the palate, it’s big and chewy with staying power for up to 20 years. As with all Broman wines, this one is perfectly balanced. Hold onto it for a couple of years to give it a chance to settle in.

The wine was aged in French oak barrels for two years, 30 percent of which were new; the remainder ranged in age from 2-5 years. The listed alcohol is 14.3 percent and 727 cases were produced.

Reviewed October 3, 2006 by Alan Goldfarb.