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Freemark Abbey opens up the library

17 July 2026 By Michael Huband

Next week’s London tasting will make use of the Napa winery’s pioneering library of back vintages, with bottles from Freemark Abbey spanning thirty years.

*The winery’s long history is reflected in its library of back vintages.*

Freemark Abbey, though one of Napa Valley’s most historic wineries, is embarking on a charm offensive in the UK. With a new distribution partnership making its case more widely to the trade, the goal is ever-wider recognition in the market.

As a key part of this, winemaker Kristy Melton heads to London next week to present her work to the London trade and press. Taking place at Princess Alexandra Hall on Wednesday 22 July, the masterclass will see her explain, alongside Patrick Schmitt MW, how she approaches winemaking at the historic estate.

However, it is not just her work that will be on show. Freemark Abbey’s history is told through many notable endeavours – its early adoption of cellar door tasting, for instance, or its two wines entered into 1976’s Judgment of Paris. Yet one of its most significant is that it has, since the 1960s, kept a library of back vintages.

That means she will go further than her own tenure, which began in 2020. She will also show vintages crafted by Ted Edwards, its long serving custodian, who became winemaker emeritus in 2020. With vintages stretching back more than 30 years, the tasting will be an opportunity to explore the constants that define Freemark Abbey across the decades.

The Freemark Abbey style

At Wednesday’s tasting, there will be a welcome drink of the Napa Valley Chardonnay 2023, a fitting tribute to Freemark Abbey’s white winemaking history. After all, it competed in both the red and white flights at the Judgment of Paris.

Nonetheless, the tasting will primarily devote itself to Cabernet Sauvignon. It is the variety most associated with Napa Valley and one on which Freemark Abbey has built a reputation.

With the vintages spanning from 1995 to 2021, the tasting will show the consistency of Freemark Abbey’s winemaking. Indeed, across the decades, a distinctive Freemark Abbey style has evolved.

*Red and whites alike feature in Freemark Abbey’s library, though Cabernet Sauvignon is a speciality.*

That style is classic: its foundations are elegance, restraint and ageworthiness. Freemark Abbey is not a winery where bombast is the buzzword.

Though the overall approach hinges on nuance, the winemaking remains incredibly demanding. Between Edwards and Melton, there is a continual thread of precision and care. Under Edwards, the winery massively increased its winemaking options, bringing in new tanks to better control fermentation and accessing a wealth of French oak through the Jackson family. The improvements of the 1990s allowed subtle decisions that could refine the wines.

Melton has continued that considered approach. With a background in laboratory science, she has the technical know-how to finely tune her wines. Yet she also arrived with a palate honed across Jackson Family Wines estates in California as well as a stint in New Zealand.

Thus, though the London tasting will demonstrate the subtle shifts that come in response to nature each vintage, it will also evidence the consistent vision that has maintained Freemark Abbey’s reputation.

With several vintages of the same wines on show, it will also prove the value in that careful, restrained approach, with wines that are still in their prime after decades developing.

Sense of place

With three Cabernet Sauvignons on show, the tasting will also offer a rare chance to hone in on Napa Valley terroir. A longstanding focus on individual sites is another area where Freemark Abbey has been ahead of the curve.

The Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon presents an overall picture of the region. It communicates the commonalities of Freemark Abbey’s sites. For instance, the Mediterranean climate ensures a long, slow growing season, helping the grapes to retain acidity while still achieving ripe flavours. Yet it also blends together the diversity of soil formation, elevation and aspect that lends complexity.

In the two other wines, you find the nuances of Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon. The two single vineyard expressions are written into Napa’s history for their quality and their longevity.

Though the term is French, Californians can likewise enjoy monopoles and the Bosché vineyard is a prime example. Its Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot are harvested exclusively for Freemark Abbey, and have been key to the winery for 50 years. Indeed, Cabernet Bosché was one of Napa Valley’s first vineyard-designated wines.

Bosché Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon is renowned for its concentration, balance and ageing potential. Its gravelly vineyards – well drained to support the vine but also providing a little stress for quality – are quintessential Rutherford terroir, while its relative flatness brings out rich, expressive fruit flavours.

Sycamore vineyard was planted in the 1970s, slightly later than Bosché, but it too has earned international recognition. Though just a mile away, the vineyards are closer to the mountains and so the wine’s character is different. Sycamore Cabernet Sauvignon tends to show darker fruits, more tannin and an earthy quality.

Each single vineyard wine will have three vintages presented – 2021, 2015 and 2005 – while the 2021 and 1995 vintages of Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon will complete the tasting.

Both as an exploration of house style and as a crash course in Napa Valley terroir, it promises to be unmissable. Freemark Abbey prides itself on its careful and elegant winemaking; with nine wines from the library teasing out its nuances, that attention to detail will be more important than ever.

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