2018 Janzen Beckstoffer To Kalon Cabernet Sauvignon

2018 Janzen Beckstoffer To Kalon Cabernet Sauvignon

with No Comment $100 and overCabernet SauvignonKevin VogtNapaOakvilleUSA

JANZEN

BECKSTOFFER TO KALON
2018 CABERNET SAUVIGNON 

2018 Janzen Beckstoffer To Kalon Cabernet Sauvignon
“To Kalon” is Greek for “highest good,” a name fitting for Andy Beckstoffer’s To Kalon Vineyard, which is one of the greatest Cabernet vineyards in the New World, described by many as Napa’s First Growth. Initially planted in 1868, the vineyard is located on the Oakville bench and has a rich history of producing powerful wines with depth, balance, and vast complexity. 
 
Beckstoffer To Kalon designated wines can easily top $500 per bottle, and the site consistently produces some of the highest-scoring Cabernets in the Valley. The viticulture crew impeccably farms this vineyard, and well-draining soils combine with evening shadows that preserve acidity and intense fruit flavors. Janzen’s 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from Beckstoffer To Kalon is “head-turning,” as Jeb Dunnuck writes, and a stunning example of the vineyard’s paramount quality.
 
JANZEN
BECKSTOFFER TO KALON
2018 CABERNET SAUVIGNON 
 
Your Price: $225
 
 
“…the 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Janzen Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard is more expressive and ready to go, offering a beautiful bouquet of cassis, blueberries, flowery incense, tobacco leaf, sandalwood, and violet-like nuances. Beautifully balanced and full-bodied, with that classic To Kalon sexiness as well as purity on the palate, this is another head-turning wine in this lineup that can be drunk today or cellared for 15-20 years.”
98 Points
2015 Heitz Cellar Martha's Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon

2015 Heitz Cellar Martha’s Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon

with No Comment $100 and overCabernet SauvignonKevin VogtNapaOakvilleUSA

HEITZ CELLAR

MARTHA’S VINEYARD
2015 CABERNET SAUVIGNON

2015 Heitz Cellar Martha's Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon
Martha’s Vineyard is one of the most prized vineyards in all of Napa Valley, boasting some of the New World’s longest-lasting, alluring Cabernet Sauvignons, capable of 100 point scores. Heitz has had a contract with Martha’s Vineyard since 1966, after Tom and Martha May, founders of Martha’s Vineyard, tasted Heitz Cabernet and were so impressed with the quality, they sealed a deal with their precious fruit.
 
Located on Oakville Bench bordering To-Kalon and below Harlan and BOND wineries, Martha’s Vineyard is fringed with eucalyptus trees believed to be the source of the wine’s signature minty, menthol character that makes it so memorable. The 2015 release is powerfully complex and loaded with the Vineyard’s hallmark savory undertones and is an absolute classic.
 
HEITZ CELLAR
MARTHA’S VINEYARD
2015 CABERNET SAUVIGNON
 
Your Price: $260
 
 
“Enticing, with the frankly ripe profile of the vintage showing off in a display of slightly exotic plum and blackberry coulis flavors, while dark licorice, menthol and sassafras notes course through. Sweet spice accents sparkle through the finish, revealing a lingering hint of singed juniper. The long finish features rippling acidity…” 
95 Points
2016 Heitz Cellar Cabernet Sauvignon Lot C-91

2016 Heitz Cellar Cabernet Sauvignon Lot C-91

with No Comment $90-$100Cabernet SauvignonHowell MountainKevin VogtNapaOakvilleRutherfordSaint HelenaUSA

HEITZ CELLAR

CABERNET SAUVIGNON
2016 LOT C-91

2016 Heitz Cellar Cabernet Sauvignon Lot C-91
Joe Heitz pioneered single-vineyard wines in Napa Valley, and in 1969 he blended select plots from his most prized vineyards, discovering that he could create a wine with the qualities he desired most – aging potential, complexity, and depth. Lot C-91 encompasses this art of assemblage, gracefully presented with concentrated fruit, focus, and sophisticated complexity.
 
Heitz is a historic winery that continues to pursue the same traditional, age-worthy style for which they’re well known and respected. For the last 50 years, Heitz Cellar has sourced fruit for Lot C-91 from premium parcels in St. Helena, Oakville, Rutherford, and Howell Mountain, representing a step-up in quality, achieving the density and length of genuinely fantastic wine.
 
HEITZ CELLAR
CABERNET SAUVIGNON
2016 LOT C-91
 
Your Price: $99.99
 
 
“The presence of savory elements such as sage, rosemary, cured meats, and black pepper distinguishes this cuvée from any other. The conclusion of the Lot C-91 on the palate displays incredible complexity and harmony, and those who can afford to be patient will be rewarded for decades to come.” 
2016 Groth Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville

2016 Groth Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville

with No Comment $50-$60Cabernet SauvignonKevin VogtNapaOakvilleUSA

GROTH 

2016 OAKVILLE
CABERNET SAUVIGNON 

2016 Groth Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville
Defined by their commitment to consistency and continuity, Groth’s entire team’s intimate knowledge and trust in the vineyard’s capability, as well as their unwavering commitment to quality, kept them on the forefront as one of Oakville’s most classic producers for generations. Their Oakville Cabernet is a timeless classic, embodying legacy, superior fruit, land stewardship, and top-level winemaking, and at $60, the value is undeniable. 
 
Initially planted by Silver Oak co-founder Justin Meyer in the early 70s, the Estate flanks paragons Plumpjack, O’Shaughnessy, and Bonny’s Vineyard and is just a short distance from BOND’s St Eden. Their team meticulously farms the vineyard, performing cluster thinning three times each vintage.
 
Pressed in their state-of-the-art gravity-flow winery and kept for nearly two years in barrel, Groth’s Oakville Cabernet is evolving beautifully since the team bottled it four years ago. The wine vividly expresses the vineyard’s hallmarks with supple fruit, depth, and escalating energy. It was not surprisingly one of THE best wines in our weekly tasting.
 
GROTH 
2016 OAKVILLE
CABERNET SAUVIGNON
Retails at: $65
 
Your Price: $59.99
 
 
“…They produced a young and luscious Oakville cabernet, the wine integrating oak and fruit tannins in a way that supercharges its flavors. Rather than weighing the wine down, the structure empowers it, presenting plummy blue fruit, scents of cassis and fruity-umami notes of mushrooms that last, gracious, gentle and refined.”
94 Points
 
“Blended with 9% Merlot and 1% Petit Verdot, this Cabernet opens with earthy aromas of tar, sage and cedar. It expands on the palate to show an elegant structure of finessed, supple tannins alongside layers of clove and cinnamon atop ripe red and black berries.”
93 Points “Editors’ Choice”
 
“A hint of singed savory leads off, turning quickly to a core of raspberry and mulberry fruit, lined with alluring tea, sanguine and iron notes. Offers fine-grained grip and should unwind nicely in the cellar. Drink now through 2030. Tasted twice, with consistent notes.”
92 Points
2018 Bacio Divino Pazzo Napa Valley Proprietary Red

2018 Bacio Divino Pazzo Napa Valley Proprietary Red

with No Comment $30 and underKevin VogtNapaOakvilleProprietary RedRutherfordUSA

BACIO DIVINO

2018 PAZZO 
NAPA VALLEY
PROPRIETARY RED

2018 Bacio Divino Pazzo Napa Valley Proprietary Red
A paragon producer of Napa Valley Sangiovese-based blends, Bacio Divino’s reputation of excellence leads with exceptional fruit, expert winemaking, and perseverance. Claus & Diane Janzen created Pazzo in 1999 as a sister label to Bacio Divino to appeal to a broader audience of wine lovers. Pazzo means crazy in Italian, and at around $30, the 2018 release is a crazy-good value. 
 
Bacio Divino has a history of producing high-scoring wines. Because of that, they have access to some of the outstanding vineyards in Napa Valley, including Beckstoffer Heritage sites in Oakville and Rutherford and Sangiovese on Atlas Peak. Pazzo comes from a collection of unnamed sites and includes grapes from their Estate vineyard.
 
Winemaker Kirk Venge built the 2018 Pazzo with 38% Sangiovese and 36% Cabernet Sauvignon, and he tied them together with Syrah and Petite Sirah. The 2018 vintage produced powerful fruit with incredible intensity. This vintage is like a bistro-wine on steroids, and you’ll thank me later once you taste it.
 
BACIO DIVINO
2018 PAZZO 
NAPA VALLEY
PROPRIETARY RED
Retails at: $38
 
Your Price: $29.99
 
 
“This is full-bodied with round, ripe tannins that give form to the ripe palate of plum and berry with some fig undertones. Round and savory. Drink now or hold.”
91 Points
2020 Pop 300 Rose Napa Valley

2020 Pop 300 Rose Napa Valley

with No Comment $30 and underKevin VogtNapaOakvilleRoséUSA

POP 300

2020 ROSÉ
NAPA VALLEY

2020 Pop 300 Rose Napa Valley
Pop 300 spotlights a micro-parcel of Pinot Noir near To Kalon Vineyard’s center called the Wilsey Vineyard. This unique site exposes Oakville’s intriguing complexity with a fresh perspective of brightly focused fruit and refreshing style. Recently recognized by Antonio Galloni on his in-depth Oakville AVA map, the vineyard’s very existence was known only by a handful of Oakville locals until Pop 300’s debut in 2012. POP 300 is a wine for those in the know, and with just 141 cases made, hopefully, it stays that way for a bit longer. 
 
Oakville produces some of the world’s most remarkable Cabernet Sauvignon, but very few people know that Pinot Noir exists in the region. Created by Luke Russ, Oakville-raised, and the Commercial Director at O’Shaughnessy Winery, this genuinely unique Rosé of Pinot Noir is truly special. 
 
Luke makes his Rosé in a piercing style, with a unique floral lift, achieved by co-fermenting with a fragrant white. Enhanced with a small amount of Grenache Blanc from a secret vineyard on Mount Veeder, this scarcely available 2020 Rosé should be on your “drink me” list today.
 
POP 300
2020 ROSÉ
NAPA VALLEY
 
Your Price: $29.99
 
 
“The 2020 POP 300 rose is here. And boy aren’t we pleased to have been able to make this wine during this wild ride of a year. Harvested early in the morning on September 4th we had a beautiful crop to work with this year. As I have done in the past I co- fermented part of this wine with a floral white. This year I went with a small amount of Grenache Blanc from a low production vineyard on Mt. Veeder. This has added to the Pinot Noir base with playful aromas of unripe mango, white peach and lime zest. The wine was fermented in a combination neutral French oak and stainless steel barrels with no malolactic conversion. 141 cases produced”
2018 Hoopla Cabernet Sauvignon California

2018 Hoopla Cabernet Sauvignon California

with No Comment $30 and underCabernet SauvignonKevin VogtNapaOakvilleUSA

HOOPLA

CABERNET SAUVIGNON
2018 CALIFORNIA 

2018 Hoopla Cabernet Sauvignon California
A howling value, Hoopla’s California Cabernet is a mixed breed born from doggone good stock. Proprietor Lindsay Hoopes owns 35 prime acres in Oakville, and her 2018 California Cabernet includes fruit from Paso Robles’ top sites and other meticulously chosen vineyards in Monterey and Napa Valley. Raised by Anne Vawter, whose experience includes working alongside Heidi Barrett as the assistant winemaker at Paradigm for years, at $24, this Cab could become man’s second-best friend. 
 
Hoopla is a cross-breed that includes barrels that didn’t go into Hoopes purebred bottlings from Napa Valley, Oakville, and Howell Mountain. The wine offers a lush coat of smooth red and black fruits, intriguing spice and floral characteristics, toasty oak, and absolutely no bite. 
 
Kenneled for 20 months in French oak, the 2018 release is Cabernet Sauvignon, harnessed with other Bordeaux varieties, offering a rare breed of concentrated, focused fruit, uncommon at this value price. Keep this one on a short leash.
 
HOOPLA
CABERNET SAUVIGNON
2018 CALIFORNIA
 
Your Price: $24
 
 
“The 2018 Hoopla California Cabernet is a ruby red, juicy Cabernet that sings with fresh aromas of blackberries, black plum, and roasted coffee. In the mouth, dense flavors of blackberries, black cherry, and cocoa powder mingle with broad, mouth- filling tannins. The lengthy finish is perfumed with vanilla bean.”
2018 Calculated Risk Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville

2018 Calculated Risk Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville

with No Comment $40-$50Cabernet SauvignonKevin VogtNapaOakvilleUSA

CALCULATED RISK

CABERNET SAUVIGNON
2018 OAKVILLE

2018 Calculated Risk Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville
Dedicated to crafting wines that express their true sense of the land, natural varietal character, and balance, Calculated Risk’s Oakville Cabernet is a foremost example of the winery’s driving force. Oakville’s notorious complexity is powerfully bestowed and incarnated with robust intensity, keen focus, and lasting balance. Priced in line with many Oakville neighbors at $120, at $46, it doesn’t take a calculus degree to sum up this deal. 
 
Winemaker Dwight Bonewell married two Oakville Vineyards, Money Road, near Oakville’s center, and a State Lane property bordering Yountville AVA. The wine presents a broad interpretation of Oakville terroir, delivered with balance and polished in an easy-drinking style.
 
Striking balance between bold and supple flavors, the final blend includes a small amount of Merlot, Malbec, and Petit Verdot, from the incredible 2018 vintage, which was virtually uninterrupted by significant heat spikes, enabling the grapes to mature and accumulate intense flavor and complexity.
 
CALCULATED RISK
CABERNET SAUVIGNON
2018 OAKVILLE
Retails at: $120
 
 
 
“Plenty of ripe berries and cherries here with some chocolate and hazelnut undertones. It’s full-to medium-bodied with round tannins and a flavorful finish. Shows richness with balance. Drinkable now, but better in 2022.”
93 Points
2016 Witchery Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon

2016 Witchery Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon

with No Comment $90-$100Cabernet SauvignonKevin VogtNapaOakvilleUSA

WITCHERY

2016 OAKVILLE 
CABERNET SAUVIGNON 

2016 Witchery Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon
Designed to encapsulate the 16th-century definition of their namesake, an irresistible fascination, everything about Witchery wines, including; the attractive packaging, charming bouquet, and enchanting flavors, are expertly choreographed and on display. The wine casts a powerful spell, setting in motion an instant and devoted following by just about everybody trying it. 
 
Witchery’s Oakville Cabernet comes from a secret vineyard located directly South of OPUS ONE and adjacent to Silver Oak. The site’s ideal micro-climate and complex soils produce incredibly expressive Cabernet fruit that lends well to Witchery’s signature style of crafting chillingly rich and captivating wines. 
 
Winemaker Grant Long Jr aged the wine 100% New French Oak Barrels, completing the blend with Petite Verdot and Cabernet Franc. The 2016 release developed remarkably well in the bottle, and with just 8 barrels produced and only a handful of cases left, now is a great time to try it.
 
WITCHERY
2016 OAKVILLE 
CABERNET SAUVIGNON
 
Your Price: $99.99
 
 

“Some Cabernets are styled more elegantly with laser like precision, while others are monstrous, bold and powerfully inky. Somewhere in the middle lies the perfect balance of power & grace and I’ve found it in this wine. The Witchery Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon 2016 is a picture of balance with a nose that actually smells satiny with fresh black plums, crushed blueberries, sweet vanilla and delicate floral notes. The palate is lush and beautifully balanced with black cherry, red currants, ever so slightly dusty tannins and beautifully integrated toasty oak. The finish is long, penetrating and so mouth watering that it evokes a pavlovian response. It is absolutely beautiful now, but will age gracefully for a decade or more.”

96 Points, Kevin M. Vogt, Master Sommelier 

2017 Paradigm Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville Estate

2017 Paradigm Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville Estate

with No Comment $70-$80Cabernet SauvignonKevin VogtNapaOakvilleUSA

PARADIGM   

CABERNET SAUVIGNON
2017 OAKVILLE ESTATE 

2017 Paradigm Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville Estate
The Paradigm wine team masterfully articulates their vineyard because of their non-invasive winemaking, without house style. Positioned directly South of Andy Beckstoffer’s Iconic To-Kalon Vineyard, Paradigm is in the epicenter of Grand Cru quality Cabernet. The 2017 release offers a vivid interpretation of Oakville’s notorious complexity, superior concentration, piercing focus, and with neighbors like Opus One, and Martha’s Vineyard, Paradigm tips the scales with nonpareil value. 
 
Heidi Barrett is Paradigm’s current and original winemaker; She has intimate knowledge of the Estate, allowing the fruit to express its quality and unique terroir with minimal intervention.
 
The 2017 Paradigm Cabernet is richly concentrated, keenly focused, and beautifully defined. The wine spends 20 months in oak and 20 months in the bottle before release and offers a parade of perfectly ripe red and black fruits, rocky minerals, and subtle oak. 
 
PARADIGM   
CABERNET SAUVIGNON
2017 OAKVILLE ESTATE
Retails at: $84
 
Your Price: $79.99
 
 
“This wine is deeply pigmented with ruby/garnet color. First sniff is Oakville Cabernet all the way. Nice layers of ripe berry and cherry-like fruit with a matching complement of toasty French Oak from an assortment of Coopers and different barrel ages. Gorgeous across the palate with a silky yet dense mouthcoating impression. Ripeness is key and the result is a wine with perfect balance and flow – just plain delicious. It’s a big, beautiful wine now but has tremendous aging potential.”