2018 Arkenstone NVD Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley

2018 Arkenstone NVD Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley

with No Comment $90-$100Cabernet SauvignonHowell MountainKevin VogtNapaUSA

ARKENSTONE

NVD CABERNET SAUVIGNON
NAPA VALLEY 2018

2018 Arkenstone NVD Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley
The Arkenstone Estate Vineyard at 1400 feet on Howell Mountain consists of 13 acres of vines divided into 22 separate vineyard blocks, providing winemaker Sam Kaplan with the necessary components for crafting magnificent high-elevation Cabernet Sauvignon that competes with the best in the Valley. Sam’s winemaking philosophy centers around elegance and balance, utilizing hands-on organic farming, limited yields, and harvesting at uniform ripeness, resulting in cellar-worthy wines that are delicious upon release.
 
The NVD is the newest addition to the winery’s production from the steep slopes of the volcanic soils in the Vaca range, providing a supreme balance between the concentrated mountain fruit and minerality. This 100% Cabernet Sauvignon is an excellent representation of the superior quality that put Napa on the international wine map, and the 2018 vintage is showing brilliantly.
 
ARKENSTONE
NVD CABERNET SAUVIGNON
NAPA VALLEY 2018
 
Your Price: $95
 
 
 
“One of winemaker Sam Kaplan’s finest showings from a lineup of 15 wines across his consulting clients, which include Vida Valiente, Memento Mori, Vangone and Maxem, his own label. This 100% Cabernet is a blend of grapes from Pritchard Hill, Howell Mountain and Calistoga. Aged 22 months in 75% new French oak it delivers heady aromas of cinnamon-dusted black cherry and ripe blueberry, an intriguing herbal note and ground espresso. The structured palate is broad and plush with red boysenberries, savoury black olives, leather and a refreshing herbal note. It glides to a chocolate finish, supported by fine-grained, sappy tannins.
Drinking Window 2021 – 2040.”
98 Points
 
“….made from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon and was aged for 22 months in French oak barrels, 80% new. Deep garnet-purple in color, the nose reveals notes of warm plums, baked black currants and black cherries with suggestions of clove oil, black tea, Chinese five spice and cedar. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is packed with firm, crunchy black berry flavors with bags of freshness and plush tannins, finishing with compelling energy…”
94 Points
 
2018 Shafer Relentless Syrah Napa Valley

2018 Shafer Relentless Syrah Napa Valley

with No Comment $90-$100Kevin VogtNapaSyrahUSA

SHAFER 

RELENTLESS SYRAH
NAPA VALLEY 2018

2018 Shafer Relentless Syrah Napa Valley
Shafer’s Relentless Syrah made its debut in 1999 before capturing three spots on the Wine Spectator’s Top 100 list, including the #1 ranking in 2012. Now in its 20th vintage, this spectacular Syrah/Petite Sirah blend continues to steal the show with its intensely captivating, indulgent style and consistently stratospheric scores from numerous critics.
 
Named for Shafer’s longtime winemaker Elias Fernandez’s relentless dedication to high-quality winemaking, this wine is an individual selection of only the top-quality fruit, just like the Hillside Select. The blend changes each year, and the 2018 vintage is 76% Syrah with 24% Petite Sirah, but what remains the same is the wine’s bold, polished style that’s been consistent for over two decades.
 
SHAFER 
RELENTLESS SYRAH
NAPA VALLEY 2018
 
Your Price: $99.99
 
 
“A young wine with superb depth and polish that shows great depth and brightness. Full and focused with blue fruit and long, fine tannins that are compact and energetic. Slate. Graphite. Sophisticated and curated. So beautiful to try now, but be patient and open after 2026.”
97 Points
 
“…the 2018 Relentless looks to be just about sensational, offering a dense purple color as well as rich, loaded notes of blackberries, currants, smoked meats, peppery spice, and violets. Reminding me of a great Cornas on steroids with its gamy, exotic character paired with beautiful richness, it has fabulous purity, ripe, polished tannins, and a great finish. This will undoubtedly be a great vintage for this cuvée, and my money is on it being one of the best yet.”
96-98 Points
2018 Wayfarer Pnot Noir Wayfarer Vineyard Fort Ross Seaview

2018 Wayfarer Pinot Noir Wayfarer Vineyard Fort Ross Seaview

with No Comment $90-$100Fort Ross SeaviewKevin VogtPinot NoirSonomaUSA

WAYFARER

PINOT NOIR
WAYFARER VINEYARD
FORT ROSS-SEAVIEW 2018 

2018 Wayfarer Pnot Noir Wayfarer Vineyard Fort Ross Seaview
Throughout his career, acclaimed Napa Valley vintner Jayson Pahlmeyer became increasingly enamored by Burgundian wines, leading him to search for the world’s finest vineyards for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in the early 1990s. After a deal fell through in Burgundy, Jayson’s winemaker Helen Turley brought him to an organic farm for sale on the extreme Sonoma Coast that she felt had all the essential elements to be the ‘La Tache of California.’
 
Jayson purchased the property in 1998, and legendary viticulturist David Abreu planted the Wayfarer vineyard in 2002. The fruit was initially blended into Russian River fruit for the Pahlmeyer label until 2012, when the exceptionally high quality of the harvest demanded a brand of its own. Each block for the 2018 vintage was handpicked before sunrise and hand-sorted to guarantee only the healthiest grapes selected, producing elegantly structured wines with intense flavors, bright acidity, and incredible precision.
 
WAYFARER
PINOT NOIR
WAYFARER VINEYARD
FORT ROSS-SEAVIEW 2018 
 
Your Price: $98
 
 
“The 2018 Pinot Noir Wayfarer Vineyard has a medium ruby color and slowly opening perfume of garrigue, dried orange peel, prosciutto and rose petals with mineral-laced cranberry and red and black berry fruits. The medium-bodied palate, grainy and incredibly fresh, slowly gains in flavor amplitude and nuance in the mouth, ending in a fanfare of spicy detail.”
98+ Points
 
“…This deeper ruby/purple-hued effort offers an awesome bouquet of black raspberries, scorched earth, toasted spices, and flowery incense. It’s rich, medium to full-bodied, and a stunning effort.. Bravo!”
96 Points
2019 Lewis Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley

2019 Lewis Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley

with No Comment $90-$100Cabernet SauvignonKevin VogtNapaUSA

LEWIS CELLARS

CABERNET SAUVIGNON
NAPA VALLEY 2019

2019 Lewis Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley
Randy Lewis was a professional racecar driver for over two decades and raced in the Formula Three in Europe, where he serendipitously fell in love with wine. Driven to create wines that would compete with the best in the world, Randy’s competitive drive led him to open a Napa Valley winery. He built a talented winery team and grower relationships that would lead him to clinch the #1 spot on the Wine Spectator Top 100 list in 2016.
 
Lewis Cellars is a very hands-on operation from the vineyard to distribution, ensuring the highest quality standards in their goal of producing truly exceptional wines. Winemaker James McCeney monitors the vineyard’s progress year-round, with each developmental stage meticulously observed so that the grapes are picked at full maturity, guaranteeing the hedonistic flavor profile that’s become their house-style.
 
LEWIS CELLARS
CABERNET SAUVIGNON
NAPA VALLEY 2019
 
Your Price: $99.99
 
 
“Layered with ripe berry, red currant and ambrosial “on the vine” character, our 2019 Napa Valley Cabernet is deliciously complex. Inflected with dusty ripe fruit and chocolaty floral aromas, the wine is concentrated yet classic with remarkable silky texture spanning the palate and augmenting the finish.
 
“Ripe black fruit, dried coconut, walnut and bark on the nose. Full-bodied with firm, chewy tannins. Ripe and dense with a spirited finish. Slightly old school but attractive and intense. Try after 2023.”
92 Points
2018 Mt. Brave Cabernet Sauvignon Mt. Veeder

2018 Mt. Brave Cabernet Sauvignon Mt. Veeder

with No Comment $90-$100Cabernet SauvignonKevin VogtMt VeederNapaUSA

MT. BRAVE

CABERNET SAUVIGNON
MT. VEEDER 2018

2018 Mt. Brave Cabernet Sauvignon Mt. Veeder
Mount Veeder is Napa Valley’s largest sub-AVA, spanning over 15,000 acres; however, only 1,000 acres of it are grapevines making up just two percent of the valley’s total production. Viticulture on the mountain is challenging due to its rocky terrain of ancient seabed soils that are extremely thin, holding little water, making the capture of winter rains vitally important.
 
Celebrated winemaker Chris Carpenter is a mastermind with mountain fruit, producing classic vintages at Lokoya and Cardinale before the Mt. Brave endeavor began in 2007. The Mt. Brave vineyard produces fruit with tiny, concentrated berries full of flavor and structural components that will gracefully guide the wine down a beautiful aging path but vinified to allow the wine to be amiable and approachable right now.
 
MT. BRAVE
CABERNET SAUVIGNON
MT. VEEDER 2018
 
Your Price: $99.99
 
 
“Lots of cassis and black raspberry fruits as well as classic Mount Veeder notes of lavender, violets, bouquet garni, and rocky, mineral-like notes emerge from the 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon. A deep, full-bodied mountain Cabernet Sauvignon, it has a plush, layered texture, beautiful tannins, a deep, concentrated mid-palate, and a great finish. Another head-turning wine from this label, it’s a candidate for the best Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon out there at the price point.”
97 Points
 
“The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon from Mt. Brave is fabulous. Inky, rich and explosive, the 2018 possesses tremendous depth and tons of personality. Graphite, blue/purplish fruit, blackberry jam, bittersweet chocolate, sage, lavender, menthol give the 2018 tons of character to match its explosive feel. The brooding, backward wine is going to need quite a bit of time to unwind, but boy is it gorgeous.”
97 Points
 
“…Deep garnet-purple colored, it springs from the glass with vibrant crème de cassis, baked plums and Morello cherries scents, followed by nuances of sautéed herbs, clove oil, mocha and scorched earth. The full-bodied palate is densely laden with layers of black and blue fruits, sporting a rock-solid backbone of grainy tannins and great tension, finishing long and minerally.”
95+ Points
2018 Booker Fracture Syrah Paso Robles

2018 Booker Fracture Syrah Paso Robles

with No Comment $90-$100Central CoastKevin VogtPaso RoblesSyrahUSA

BOOKER

FRACTURE SYRAH
PASO ROBLES 2018

2018 Booker Fracture Syrah Paso Robles
Dedicated to growing fruit for some of the best wineries in Paso Robles, Eric Jensen farmer and winemaker at Booker Winery, gained valuable experience from neighbors Stephan Asseo of L’Aventure, and friend Justin Smith of Saxum. Fracture is one of Booker’s flagship wines, with its name paying homage to the limestone that causes the calcareous soil in the vineyard to crack.
 
Paso Robles welcomed the cooler 2018 vintage, leading to a relaxed harvest of healthy fruit and longer hang-time for the grapes, allowing them to develop more complex flavors and aromas. This 100% Syrah is made in a silky smooth style that Eric describes as “falling into a soft pillow” that is ready to drink right off of the bottling line but also has the potential to age for another 20 years or longer. 
 
BOOKER
FRACTURE SYRAH
PASO ROBLES 2018
 
Your Price: $99.99
 
 
“Another magical wine, the 2018 Fracture is based on 100% Syrah brought up in new and used French oak. Deep purple-hued, with beautiful notes of crème de cassis, blackberries, vanilla bean, toasted spices, white flowers, and a hints of charcuterie, this beauty hits the palate with full-bodied richness, perfectly integrated oak, a rounded, lush mouthfeel, and a great finish. This unabashedly Paso Robles Syrah brings loads of fruit yet stays balanced, elegant, and is simply a thrill to drink.”
98 Points
 
“Youthful purple. Heady, spice-accented aromas of blackberry, blueberry cherry liqueur and pungent flowers show excellent clarity and energetic lift. Sappy and penetrating on the palate, displaying sharply defined black/blue fruit, violet pastille, cola and exotic spice flavors that turn livelier as the wine opens up. Finishes extremely long, smoky and minerally, with powerful, spicy thrust, a repeating floral note and gently chewy, polished tannins.”
97 Points
2018 Acumen Peak Cabernet Sauvignon Atlas Peak

2018 Acumen Peak Cabernet Sauvignon Atlas Peak

with No Comment $90-$100Atlas PeakCabernet SauvignonKevin VogtNapaUSA

ACUMEN

PEAK CABERNET SAUVIGNON
2018 ATLAS PEAK

2018 Acumen Peak Cabernet Sauvignon Atlas Peak
Acumen Estate consists of 116 organically certified acres of vines on Atlas Peak, spread across two vineyards from which a small portfolio of estate-grown wines is born. The winery bases their sought-after style of Cabernet Sauvignon on the great Cabernets of the 1960s and 70s, which helped secure Napa on the international wine map.
 
Acumen sells a large portion of their mountain-grown fruit to other fine wineries in Napa Valley, allowing Chappellet’s 30-year veteran winemaker Philip Titus to focus on his favorite small vineyard blocks. The 2018 vintage is graceful with an exquisite yet powerful structure due to a cooler than average summer with zero heat spikes, allowing the grapes to slowly develop full physiological maturity, depth of aromas and flavors, and an incredible overall balance between fruit, earth, and minerality.
 
ACUMEN
PEAK CABERNET SAUVIGNON
2018 ATLAS PEAK
Retails at: $115
 
Your Price: $99.99
 
 
“The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Peak showed nicely, with beautiful blue fruits, scorched earth, licorice, and violet aromas and flavors. With medium to full-bodied richness, it stays tight and compact on the palate, with a fresh, Bordeaux-like style in its tannins and acidity. It needs 4-5 years of bottle age but should age nicely on its purity and elegance.”
95 Points
 
“Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Peak charges out of the gate with energetic scents of red and black currants, fresh blackberries and boysenberries with suggestions of camphor, cardamom, tar and new leather plus a waft of pencil shavings. Full-bodied, concentrated and decadent in the mouth, the palate has a solid foundation of firm, grainy tannins and lively freshness to support, finishing long with a pleasantly surprising floral perfume coming through at the end.”
94+ Points
2015 Morlet Cabernet Sauvignon Les Petits Morlet

2015 Morlet Cabernet Sauvignon Les Petits Morlet

with No Comment $90-$100Cabernet SauvignonKevin VogtNapa

MORLET

2015 CABERNET SAUVIGNON 
LES PETITS MORLET 

2015 Morlet Cabernet Sauvignon Les Petits Morlet
Fifth-generation winemaker Luc Morlet grew up in Avenay-Val d’Or, France, working with his family on their estate, kindling an early passion for wine and tradition. During his university studies in Viticulture and Enology, he worked vineyards in Burgundy, Bordeaux, and Southern France, creating a traditional, time-tested technique foundation, which he brought to America. 
 
Luc left France in 1996, joining his wife Jodie in California, bringing with him his savoir-faire of Old-World winemaking techniques, becoming known and respected in Napa and Sonoma for crafting superbly balanced, terroir focused wines. His Les Petits Cabernet is a Cuvée style blend constructed from younger vines grown on many of the A-list properties where Luc sources fruit, offering the power, persistence, and balance that you’d want from a top-tier Napa Valley wine.
 
MORLET
2015 CABERNET SAUVIGNON 
LES PETITS MORLET
 
Your Price: $95
 
 
“Slightly deeper colored than the ’14, the 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Les Petits Morlet offers more black fruits, graphite, scorched earth, and tobacco. It’s another full-bodied yet finesse-driven wine from this estate that has good acidity, ripe tannin, and plenty of class. As with the 2014, it will keep for over a decade.”
93 Points
 
“…Very deep garnet-purple colored, the 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Les Petits Morlet gives up expressive red and black currants notes with underlying hints of Chinese five spice, bay leaves, pencil lead and dark chocolate with a waft of lavender. Medium to full-bodied, it coats the mouth with black fruits and red berry sparks, framed by grainy tannins and lovely freshness, finishing long and juicy…”
92 Points
2016 Heitz Cellar Cabernet Sauvignon Lot C-91

2016 Heitz Cellar Cabernet Sauvignon Lot C-91

with No Comment $90-$100Cabernet SauvignonHowell MountainKevin VogtNapaOakvilleRutherfordSt 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 a genuinely fantastic wine, which recently earned an extraordinary score.
 
HEITZ CELLAR
CABERNET SAUVIGNON
2016 LOT C-91
 
Your Price: $99.99
 
 
“Blue fruit with stone, lavender and currant aromas and flavors. Fresh herbs too. Medium-bodied with ultra-fine tannins. Such firmness and focus and beauty. A blend of all their top single vineyards. Drink or hold.”
96 Points
2018 Larkmead Firebelle Napa Valley

2018 Larkmead Firebelle Napa Valley

with No Comment $90-$100Kevin VogtNapaProprietary RedUSA

LARKMEAD

2018 FIREBELLE
NAPA VALLEY

2018 Larkmead Firebelle Napa Valley
Strategically planted above two colluvial fans extending from the Mayacamas and Vaca mountain ranges with 300 feet of ancient riverbed gravel beneath the topsoil, Larkmead’s 110-acre vineyard contains seven distinctive soil profiles, providing unique flavor characteristics in the fruit. The vineyard is planted with the most suitable varieties, clones, and rootstocks, creating the wide range of flavors and nuances that’s become a hallmark of Larkmead wines.
 
Merlot is grown in well-drained, rich loam soils full of clay and gravel, resulting in more plush density that enhances the softness of the wine. The winery’s super high-scoring Firebelle blend is based around a core of 75% Merlot, enriched with 25% Cabernet Sauvignon, showing refined beauty, grace, and a substantial aging potential with its fine-grained tannins and exquisite balance.
 
LARKMEAD
2018 FIREBELLE
NAPA VALLEY
Retails at: $120
 
Your Price: $99.99
 
 
“Marrying 75% Merlot and 25% Cabernet Sauvignon, this wine is focused, soft and rounded in feel, with an underlying structure that should lend well to aging. It shows integrated notes of cedar, dried herb and slate that mix with a core of blueberry and plum. Lingering accents of nutmeg and cocoa nib mark the close….”
97 Points, #39 Top 100 Cellar Selections 2021
 
“Lovely aromas of tile, blackberries and plums with some lavender and violets, following through to a full body with chewy, round tannins that are layered into the pretty, not overly ripe fruit…”
96 Points