2024 Frog's Leap "Flycatcher" California Red Blend

"Flycatcher" is the California red from Frog's Leap, which the winery calls a cheeky nod to the estate wines it grows on the Rutherford Bench. John Williams founded the winery in 1981 after working at Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, winner of the 1976 Judgment of Paris, and Frog's Leap built its name on organic, dry-farmed Napa Valley vineyards that remain in the Williams family. For this wine the family goes beyond Napa to old-vine and hillside growers: the 2024 is 36 percent Carignane, including Redwood Valley vines planted in 1942, with Cinsault, Petite Sirah, Merlot, Syrah, Tempranillo and a little Lodi Zinfandel from vines planted in 1963. Each lot was picked separately, partly co-fermented in stainless steel with native yeast, and aged eight months in neutral French and American oak with no additions. An even, warm 2024 season without serious heat spikes kept acidity intact, and the wine is made for the table rather than the cellar.