Patria 'Avoyelles' Red Blend Oakville, USA 2019

A 5th generation Northern Californian and graduate of UC Davis, in 1992 Tony Biagi began his first harvest internship. By the end of the first day on the crushpad, the seed of having his own winery one day was planted. In the time since, he has been fortunate to get to know and work with many of Napa’s top wineries, vineyards, and people. When it came time to bring his dream winery to fruition, Tony knew he needed a business partner that could be his sales and marketing counterpart. He turned to his good friend Kimberly Jones and asked her to join him on this journey of founding a winery. She said yes. In the Spring of 2013, Patria (transl. homeland) was born. Friends for over 15 years, Tony and Kim first met through their work with Plumpjack Winery. 

Once a youngster who menteed under such luminaries as Duckhorn’s Tom Rinaldi, Dan Duckhorn and Alex Ryan, Tony Biagi is now a bonafide veteran winemaker. In addition to Patria, he is the winemaker for Hourglass Winery and Amici Cellars, and serves as consulting winemaker for Clos du Val (Napa), Lasseter (Sonoma), and Jada Estate (Paso Robles). Prior to beginning his consulting work, Tony was the winemaker at Plumpjack (2003-2011) and founding winemaker of CADE, Sinegal Estate, and Neal Family Vineyards.

While Tony’s career may have forged a straight line, Kimberly Jones’s has been far more circuitous - but no less accomplished. From Manhattan’s red-hot restaurant scene of the 80s, to the New York and Hollywood film industry, it was on a lark - and in need of a life change - that Kim found herself venturing into wine sales in Los Angeles in the 90s. Having befriended Lori Griffin on a hike, she helped grow his brokerage Griffin Wine Marketing to represent many of that era’s groundbreaking new wineries. Having become a veritable queen of the cults, in 2003 Kimberly launched Kimberly Jones Selections to help usher in and foster the next generation of small artisan brands. KJS now distributes both domestically and internationally, representing over 60 California wineries and over 30 producers from Europe and South America. We suspect Kimberly may be superhuman.

"The 2019 Avoyelles Oakville Ranch checks in as 55% Cabernet Franc, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 5% Petit Verdot, all from the Oakville Ranch Vineyard and aged 22 months in French oak. It has an insanely good bouquet of chocolaty red and black fruits, dried herbs, chocolate, and obvious minerality as well as full-bodied richness and depth on the palate. Complex, layered, multi-dimensional, and perfectly balanced, it's an incredible Cabernet Franc-dominated blend that will benefit from just a handful of years in the cellar and keep for 15-20 years."

100 points Jed Dunnuck