Claret Napa Valley (Bordeaux Blend)

Before founding his own label in 1998, Bob Foley spent fifteen years each at Markham and Pride Mountain Vineyards, effectively writing the playbook for Napa's mountain-Cabernet style — then launched Robert Foley Vineyards to execute it entirely on his own terms. The Claret draws from hillside sites across Napa's elevated AVAs, anchored by Howell Mountain fruit grown at approximately 2,000 feet in decomposed volcanic ash (tufa) and iron-rich red clay — nutrient-poor, free-draining soils that force small cluster development and compress flavors into dense, structured fruit rather than the plush, high-sugar profiles typical of valley-floor Cabernet. The documented blend runs approximately 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot, 3% Petit Verdot. Fermentation proceeds in stainless steel targeting a peak of 85°F with twice-daily pump-overs, then cooled to the low-to-mid 70s°F to complete; skin contact runs approximately 10 days, and pressing is kept to no more than one bar via open-style membrane press. Aging takes place in French oak from the Tronçais forest, medium-plus toast, with new-oak percentage deliberately held well below 100% — Foley treats oak as seasoning, not architecture, a conscious departure from the extraction-heavy, heavily wooded Napa Cabernet mainstream. The 2015 vintage, drawn from a warm, drought-stressed California growing season that concentrated mountain fruit further, is drinking well now and should continue to develop through the late 2020s.