2021: The Year It All Came Together

IN 2021, Faust Estate Director Jen Beloz and Winemaker David Jelinek found a new appreciation for the timestamp of a single
vintage—and the power of an exceptional one to restore the equilibrium of a vineyard.

Rarely do vintners get everything they hope for in a season, the formula of even warmth that results in perfect balance as the fruit ripens. But that’s exactly what 2021 delivered in Coombsville (indeed, throughout Napa Valley).

“I really believe that we’ll all look at ’21 as one of the best vintages Napa has enjoyed in the past 10 years,” says Beloz. “If you’re the type who likes to store your favorite wines, the ’21 vintage of The Pact will be ideal to drink in the 7-to-10-year
range. But it will be great for 15 years in cellar conditions, and it will still be alive two decades from now.”

It was a confluence of weather conditions that produced such an exceptional vintage. Winter rains were a little more generous than the year prior, while moisture levels remained low from an ongoing drought. In wine terms, that carries a silver lining: The smaller crop—and individual berry size—creates a natural concentration in the fruit. A higher ratio of skin to juice translates into beautiful intensity in the wine.

When the summer of 2021 arrived, temperatures remained even and cool, allowing sugar levels to rise slowly as tannins fully matured and complex flavors developed.

The optimism felt on the cusp of harvest was magnified by the difficult years the Faust community had just endured, marked as they were by the strain of Covid lockdowns and threatening fires. Only one question remained—when to pick. The team mobilized, harvesting everything just before the fall storms hit. It was a photo finish— redemptive, in a way—and it delivered on the full potential of Faust’s Coombsville vineyard.

The Pact 2021 Tasting Notes

With its vivid blue fruit and vibrant energy, our 2021 Pact might be a Coombsville prototype for years to come. Dark, exotic spice—with star anise in the lead—opens on a complex nose layered with sweet tobacco, savory herb and olive notes, and a lovely vein of graphite minerality under briar-kissed blueberry. The palate is electric, its deceptive power couched in chalky, tight-knit tannins. Black raspberry joins blueberry, with wet slate and soil-driven, iron-rich minerality spilling into a long, perfectly balanced finish, serious and hedonistic at once.
— DAVID JELINEK, WINEMAKER
David Jelinek, Winemaker

Back to Pact Journal | Volume IV | Spring 2024