MacDonald
Anew wine from a historic vineyard comes with built-in pedigree, and that alone makes it worth paying attention to. But the dark, powerful MacDonald Cabernet from the famous To Kalon vineyard also reflects the new sensibility of both power and restraint and the push toward organic and biodynamic viticulture in the valley. It’s definitely worth its $100-plus (£76) price-tag.
Energetic brothers Alex (32) and Graeme (34) MacDonald admit they got lucky when their great-grandparents purchased a house in 1954 that came with a slice of the To Kalon vineyard, whose Greek name means ‘the beautiful’. In a family tangle, the brothers’ grandfather and great uncle divided up the property. Their side of the family ended up with 6ha planted to Cabernet and they grew up thinking of the vineyard as their playground.
For decades, the MacDonalds sold the grapes to the Mondavi family, but after Constellation Brands acquired the Robert Mondavi winery, Graeme wanted some of the grapes for himself. He studied winemaking at UC Davis, then worked at Colgin Cellars, Opus One and Abe Schoener’s avant-garde Scholium Project, as well as experimenting with some of the family’s grapes, which he and Alex had to pay high prices for. By 2010, they were ready to release minuscule quantities of Cabernet under their own label and two years later they took over managing the vineyard.
They’re currently the youngest people in the valley making wine from To Kalon.
‘The brothers grew up thinking of To Kalon vineyard as their playground’