Wine Review – Folie A’Deux 1999 Petite Folie Cabernet Sauvignon

The Folie a’Deux winery was one of our favorites that we visited on our trip to Napa Valley back in 2001. Folie à deux (translated, "a madness shared by two") is a rare psychiatric syndrome in which a symptom of psychosis (particularly a paranoid or delusional belief) is transmitted from one individual to another. A married couple had set up the winery, one a psychiatrist the other a psychologist and they shared the same fantasy of creating wonderful wines and living in Napa Valley. Hence the name of their winery!

It is a beautiful vineyard right off of Highway 29 which goes right through the heart of Napa. On that trip, we brought back a case and a half of different wines from different wineries. If I remember correctly, we brought back 3 bottles from Folie a’Deux and this bottle was the last bottle we had from the winery and from the entire trip. It was special for several reasons but the main one was it represented the last bottle from the trip where I proposed to Meg. So I knew that we would not open it for just any occasion. Since Meg is not the most patient person, she had been bugging me to open some of our older bottles for fear that they might have past their prime and gone bad. I can usually hold her off for a while, but on Valentines night, I finally gave in and we opened it. Wow, what a treat!

We decanted this wine about 15 minutes before our meal was ready to let it breath and open up. This big, bold cab is made of 82% cabernet sauvignon and 18% merlot. In the glass it is a deep ruby color and has aromas of dark fruit, spice and a touch of floral. On the palate, you taste dark cherry and plum with hints of cloves and sage. It had extremely smooth tannins and was well balanced. It had a long, elegant finish and was well worth the wait. This wine went perfectly with our grilled ribeyes and homemade garlic mashed potatos. I don’t remember exactly what we paid for this bottle back in 2001, but I think it was in the $20-$25 range. If you can find it anywhere, pick it up! I wasn’t able to find this vintage anywhere on the interweb, I am sure there was only a small amount produced and they are all sold out. This wine made an already nice night with the family even better!

Cheers!