Two months ago a friend of mine brought over a Rutherford Cab Sauv. I had tasted a few before this that just didn’t make the cut, so I went in with low expectations. I opened it up, poured a couple ounces in the glass and let it sit there while I answered emails. After letting it open up, I put it to my nose and there was little doubt…this smelled like something I knew. I called him up and it was confirmed…same vineyard as Entry 002 “Odyssey”…a different producer but the terroir could not be denied. BOOM! Okay, I had a lead. But, the Odyssey isn’t something you follow up with just because you have the same vineyard available to you. This sample was pure hedonistic yum, yum fruit…very appropriate for the 2024 vintage, which was quite warm. I must explain…If I bottled this wine alone it would have tasted like Caymus without the sugar and that is not acceptable to me. It would have been praised by the masses, but here at Archival, we aim to teach. To understand that pure pleasure is not the point of wine. It must engage you, make you think and, of course, be utterly delicious. This wine only had one of the three.

Two weeks later good ol’ Brian Graham showed me his organic vineyard offering of Ruth CS from one of his clients. It was classy, more built for the long haul….tons of dark fruit, mid to back palate intensity and complexity. It was a perfect marriage to the fruit forward Rutherford that I had just recently. And there I started figuring out the ideal blend between the two. Landing on 58% of the BG Ruth CS and 42% of the hedonist’s  delight Ruth CS. With a base wine established in the lab it was time to look at blending components. I look at many things: spice, oak influence, finish, forward versus backward fruit….overall balance.

The wine needed some “tailored stitching”, as I might call it. The oak was a bit aggressive, it would benefit from just a bit of mid palate flesh, weight….lingering plum fruit that allows all the red Cab fruit to flow from front to back seamlessly. We had just brought in a divine Merlot from the same vineyard as 004 Griffin and it nailed my needs. At 8% it welded the two wines together. Red Fruit up front and Blue Fruit out back brought togehter by the black fruit of this Merlot. And it’s not just fruit, it’s the structure (tannins/acid) that is essential to have the feeling of a balanced wine. It must flow perfectly smooth from front to back. To round things out, I wanted to add a touch more complexity in the aroma profile and finish. Thankfully, another winemaker reached out at the same time with an orphan barrel of Cab Franc from Howell Mtn that needed a home. Damn, it was good too! This is a complete wine, not a blender…but only one barrel could be had. So, we picked it up to sprinkle around like fairy dust. At 2%, this lifted the wine… it truly felt like it elevated it into a warm hug. It brought subtle aromatics of its own, but also accentuated nuances that were shy in the wine without it.

The story of building this wine is long, and deservedly so. For this next iteration of Rutherford CS from Archival we had to knock it out of the park as there are a high expectations to a “Follow Up”. However, I never approach a wine as though it should be consistent with its last vintage; for example I just tasted through a vertical of Chiron. Every wine was singular. And singular “Kairos” is. Released only 26 days after bottling…it’s still an utter baby. But as you know, it will sell out before it should even be opened. So, I recommend that if you do open one in the next two months, it will need 2-3 hours in the decanter. All its disjointed parts will piece back together after 4-6 months. And between 2027 and 2032 it will be peak enjoyment.