2019 Faust Cabernet Sauvignon The Pact Coombsville

2019 Faust Cabernet Sauvignon The Pact Coombsville

with No Comment $100 and overCabernet SauvignonCoombsvilleKevin VogtNapaUSA

FAUST

THE PACT
CABERNET SAUVIGNON
COOMBSVILLE 2019

2019 Faust Cabernet Sauvignon The Pact Coombsville
In 1998, Agustin and Valeria Huneeus were among the first to plant vineyards in the Coombsville AVA, an area known for diverse, eroded volcanic soils, elevation, and a significantly cooler climate than other parts of Napa Valley, due to its proximity to the San Pablo Bay. Agustin was the CEO of Concha y Toro at 27 years old in 1960, while Valeria was a microbiologist and viticulturist, which in 1989 helped her discover the land for Quintessa, their other well-established Napa Estate.
 
The Pact Cabernet Sauvignon is from the winery’s most expressive vines on an elevated bench in Coombsville. It’s a site where ancient volcanic ash and rocks interspersed within the soils bring out the wine’s signature minerality and linear intensity. The 2019 vintage lives up to its legacy with a luxuriously dense palate, fine tannins, and a solid, vibrant structure that will stand the test of time.
 
FAUST
THE PACT
CABERNET SAUVIGNON
COOMBSVILLE 2019
 
Your Price: $125
 
 
“Red currants and blackcurrants with some violets and crushed earth. Full-bodied with round, creamy tannins. Fine, velvety tannins that are open and grounded. Firm and tight finish. Drinkable now, but better in 2024.”
96 Points
2019 Prisoner Cabernet Sauvingnon Napa Valley

2019 Prisoner Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley

with No Comment $40-$50Cabernet SauvignonKevin VogtNapaUSA

PRISONER

CABERNET SAUVIGNON
NAPA VALLEY 2019

2019 Prisoner Cabernet Sauvingnon Napa Valley
Impressively rich and concentrated, The Prisoner Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 is a wine made in a similar fashion and style as The Prisoner Red Blend but with Cabernet Sauvignon as the main blending component. Director of Winemaking Chrissy Wittman works closely with a team of experienced growers in Napa Valley, and hand selects vineyard blocks that best fit the profile of her spellbinding wines unhindered by tradition.
 
Chrissy blended in small percentages of Merlot, Syrah, Malbec, Petite Sirah, and Charbono for the extra rich mouthfeel well known by Prisoner drinkers worldwide. It aged in French and American oak, giving the wine a signature spice rack of flavors and silky smooth finish. Our panel was impressed by this wine’s stunning concentration, superior richness, and riveting flavor profile, guaranteed to delight fans of rich, inky-style Napa Cabs.
 
PRISONER
CABERNET SAUVIGNON
NAPA VALLEY 2019
Retails at: $55
 
Your Price: $49.99
 
 
“Sleek, with cassis and plum notes laced with subtle alder and tobacco notes. The polished finish has a pretty flicker of savory. Drink now through 2027.”
91 Points
 
“The Prisoner Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 begins with a deep, rich nose of black and blue fruits, toasted coconut, sweet vanilla, and wood spice. The palate is lush and rich, with deep, ripe blackberry and sweet black currants combined with espresso, baker’s chocolate, and tobacco notes.”
90 Points
2017 Alba De Domus Cabernet Sauvignon Blend Maipo Valley

2017 Alba De Domus Cabernet Sauvignon Blend Maipo Valley

with No Comment $30-$40Cabernet SauvignonChileKevin VogtMaipo Valley

ALBA DE DOMUS

CABERNET SAUVIGNON BLEND
MAIPO VALLEY 2017

2017 Alba De Domus Cabernet Sauvignon Blend Maipo Valley
The Peña family was one of the first to plant Cabernet Sauvignon in 1970 on the foothills of the Andes in the Alto Maipo, an elevated part of the Maipo Valley known for a number of the region’s best wines today. Before the family knew their vineyard’s potential, they sold fruit to some of the country’s top wineries, resulting in many of Chile’s most sought-after wines.
 
Clos Quebrada de Macul is a single vineyard on low-yielding hillside sites producing wines with deeper color, more structured tannins, and concentration. The 2017 Alba de Domus experienced low yields across the region, meaning that sloped vineyards with altitude saw meager production, increasing concentration and contributing to the lengthy and glorious finish.
 
ALBA DE DOMUS
CABERNET SAUVIGNON BLEND
MAIPO VALLEY 2017
Retails at: $45
 
Your Price: $38
 
 
“The 2017 Alba de Domus shows some toasty aromas and abundant ripe fruit. It’s a blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc and 5% Petit Verdot, quite different from previous years with a lot more Merlot. It matured in 90% new French oak barrels for 16 to 18 months, and the wine still feels quite marked by the élevage….”
92 Points
 
“Very savory, with eucalyptus, bay leaf and olive notes paving the way for dried berry and cherry flavors, which are framed by fresh acidity. Ends with a note of kirsch and a slight tug of tannins. Distinctive but will have its fans. Drink now through 2026.”
92 Points
2019 Black Powder Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville

2019 Black Powder Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville

with No Comment $60-$70Cabernet SauvignonKevin VogtNapaOakvilleUSA

BLACK POWDER

2019 OAKVILLE
CABERNET SAUVIGNON

2019 Black Powder Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville
Exploding onto the Cabernet scene like a stick of dynamite, we introduced Black Powder last year, in their maiden vintage, a phenomenon that developed an instant cult-like following for its explosive flavors, profound depth, and superior quality. Their secret lies in their vineyard sourcing, with this Cabernet coming from an undisclosed site on Oakville’s volcanic Eastside, where you’d expect and would pay over $150 per bottle for wines from the same vineyard. 
 
Setting his sights on creating wines that blow holes in industry norms, Bobby Moy passed his trial-by-fire in the wine industry mentoring under Thomas Rivers Brown before founding Black Powder. The newly released 2019 vintage is a richly concentrated offering, potent, lush, and of the caliber you’d look for from a great Oakville Vineyard, but priced far less than you’d expect.
 
BLACK POWDER
2019 OAKVILLE
CABERNET SAUVIGNON
Retails at: $95
 
 
 
“The 2019 Black Powder Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon has beautiful aromatics and opens with violets, cassis, plums, graphite, and cola. The palate is plush with blueberries, cloves, and chocolate for a long, enjoyable finish. The depth of flavor concentration, firm tannins, and fresh acidity give this wine the perfect structure for aging and further flavor development. Drink now through 2030.”
94 Points
2011 Anakota Cabernet Sauvignon Dakota Vineyard Helena

2011 Anakota Cabernet Sauvignon Dakota Vineyard Helena

with No Comment $100 and overCabernet SauvignonKevin VogtKnight's ValleySonomaUSA

ANAKOTA 

HELENA DAKOTA VINEYARD
CABERNET SAUVIGNON 2011

2011 Anakota Cabernet Sauvignon Dakota Vineyard Helena
Patience is a virtue when aging the right wines, and Anakota’s 2011 Helena Dakota Vineyard Cabernet, crafted by legendary 100-point winemaker Pierre Seillan, proves it. After nearly a decade in the bottle, this wine from the challenging 2011 growing season is indescribably brilliant. Like many 2011 vintage wines from world-class producers, time in the bottle has transformed them into magnificent, collector-worthy wines.
 
Helena Dakota Vineyard is a sloping 12-acre parcel that has for decades produced powerful yet sophisticated wines marked by structure and elegance and their ability to stand the test of time. Pierre says the Cabernet Sauvignon from Helena Dakota reminds him of Pauillac or Saint-Estèphe. Their 2011 vintage will rock you to your core when you taste it and is a joy to behold. For transparency, we added the old reviews from 2014 below that don’t represent how great this perfectly ready-to-drink beauty is showing now. 
 
ANAKOTA 
HELENA DAKOTA VINEYARD
CABERNET SAUVIGNON 2011
 
Your Price: $119.99
 
 
“The 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon Helena Dakota Vineyard is slightly softer and rounder, and is civilized for a young Anakota Cabernet Sauvignon. Its deep ruby/purple hue is followed by sweet blackcurrant fruit intermixed with hints of wet rocks and gravel. Dense, ripe, and approachable, it should be consumed over the next decade or more.”
91+ Points
 
“Smoke, tobacco, iron and a host of ferrous notes emerge from the 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon Helena Dakota Vineyard. A wine of gorgeous complexity and personality, the 2011 is going to need at least a few years to fully unwind. There is a lot going on in the glass. Next to the Montana, the Dakota is more savory and also shows a bit more structure. Both are beautiful.”
91+ Points
2017 Keever Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley

2017 Keever Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley

with No Comment $100 and overCabernet SauvignonKevin VogtNapaUSA

KEEVER

CABERNET SAUVIGNON
NAPA VALLEY 2017

2017 Keever Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley
Keever Vineyards is a small family estate with six and a half acres of vines planted on rocky hillsides at the foot of the Mayacamas mountain range. The gravelly clay loam soils contain softball-sized chunks of rock left behind from millions of years of erosion, forcing the vines to work harder and produce intensely concentrated flavors.
 
Keever’s winemaker Celia Welch, whom you might recognize from Barbour, Dalla Valle, and Scarecrow, uses her tuned-in senses, harvesting the grapes at full physiological ripeness based on flavor instead of numbers. Each vineyard block is treated separately, with fruit gently transferred by gravity flow into the fermentation tanks, followed by maturation in French oak selected and approved by Celia, allowing the wines to express their personality with seamless integration.
 
KEEVER
CABERNET SAUVIGNON
NAPA VALLEY 2017
Retails at: $135
 
 
 
“Made form 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon gives a deep garnet-purple and has quite a serious, slightly closed nose of warm blackcurrants, black cherry compote, baked plums and espresso with hints of forest floor, truffles and tar. Medium to full bodied, the palate is packed with black fruit preserves and savory layers, with a chewy texture and plenty of freshness on the long, earthy finish…”
93+ Points
 
“Primarily from estate fruit in Yountville, the 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon is all Cabernet aged in 70% new French oak. It just screams Cabernet with its red, black, and blue fruits as well as tobacco, spice, lead pencil, and cedary aromas and flavors. Medium to full-bodied, beautifully balanced, and with fine tannins, it’s another brilliant 2017 from Celia Welch.”
93 Points
 
“The 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon is soft, supple and inviting, with no hard edges and tons of near- to medium-term appeal. Sweet tobacco, mint, licorice, dried flowers and leather add aromatic nuance to a soft, open-knit Cabernet that will drink well right out of the gate. This is not terribly complex, but it is absolutely delicious; the 2017 is pure class. Sweet floral notes, rose petal and red cherry add lift on the close.”
92 Points
2019 Matias Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley

2019 Matias Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley

with No Comment $30 and underCabernet SauvignonCalistogaKevin VogtNapaUSAYountville

MATIAS

CABERNET SAUVIGNON 
NAPA VALLEY 2019

2019 Matias Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley
For years, Matias was a paragon producer of value Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, beloved for their sophistication and balance, far exceeding their price level. Now entering the Cabernet Sauvignon market, Matias sources fruit from Yountville AVA, with a small portion coming from north of Calistoga, combining depth, concentration, and balance, making anyone do a double-take when they try it at this price.
 
The wine was aged in 66% new French oak from Saury and Taransaud, striking an optimal balance between the fruit and oak. This 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon has silky smooth tannins that make it easily drinkable at the moment but also has the depth and intensity of a wine that can easily lay down for a decade or so.
 
MATIAS
CABERNET SAUVIGNON 
NAPA VALLEY 2019
Retails at: $35
 
Your Price: $29.99
 
 
“Rich boysenberry, opulent black plum, dark chocolate, and crushed granite combine with purple flowers and hints of vanilla spice. The satiny tannins and supple mouthfeel help make this an extraordinary value. It is rare to find a wine of this quality at this price.”
92 Points
2018 Beau Vigne Romeo Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley

2018 Beau Vigne Romeo Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley

with No Comment $50-$60Cabernet SauvignonKevin VogtNapaOakvilleRutherfordSaint HelenaUSA

BEAU VIGNE

ROMEO CABERNET SAUVIGNON
NAPA VALLEY 2018

2018 Beau Vigne Romeo Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley
With over two decades of winemaking experience, Julien Fayard has earned respect among winemakers in Napa Valley. He began in his family’s Provençal winery, then spent valuable time in Bordeaux at Chateau Lafite Rothschild and Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte. After relocating to Napa Valley, Julien worked as the Director of Winemaking for Philippe Melka and currently oversees small boutique wineries, including Beau Vigne, combining his elegant French winemaking style with bold California elements.
 
The Beau Vigne Romeo Cabernet Sauvignon 2018 is a charming blend of premier vineyards in Oakville, Rutherford, and St. Helena that’s impossible not to love. Beau Vigne’s limited production is a prize to behold, especially in exceptional vintages such as 2018 that will continue to deliver with an elegant demeanor and complementary depth.
 
BEAU VIGNE
ROMEO CABERNET SAUVIGNON
NAPA VALLEY 2018
Retails at: $100
 
 
 
“Dark chocolate cherry and roasted coffee intensity glides in on a sleek mouthfeel. Seductive notes of blackberry and licorice rise up to a massive shouldered – yet balanced – red. In his youth, Romeo is cloaked in dark violet flowers that bloom as the wine opens up.”
97 Points
2017 Vinehouse Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain

2017 Vinehouse Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain

with No Comment $70-$80Cabernet SauvignonHowell MountainKevin VogtNapaUSA

VINEHOUSE

CABERNET SAUVIGNON
HOWELL MOUNTAIN 2017

2017 Vinehouse Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain
Vinehouse’s Howell Mountain vineyard, planted with Cabernet Sauvignon and Saint Macaire, sits on the volcanic Aiken soils found on the mountain looking over Napa Valley at 1,732 feet. Saint Macaire is a rare varietal from South-West France with a deep, dense color from high levels of anthocyanins that soften robust tannins from Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon.
 
The winery, owned by Lesley Warner and Alan Peirson, co-founder of Peirson Meyer Winery, combines decades of experience into 150 cases of 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon, blended with 8% Saint Macaire. This incredibly rare blend allows approachability in its youth, but the structure from the Cabernet Sauvignon will let this wine develop in the cellar as long as you have patience.
 
VINEHOUSE
CABERNET SAUVIGNON
HOWELL MOUNTAIN 2017
 
Your Price: $75
 
 
“The 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain is powerful, but also compact. The mid-palate is especially shy. It will be interesting to see if more fruit emerges in time. Black cherry, licorice, lavender, spice, menthol and dried herbs all meld together. The 2017 is a wine of real intrigue, but it needs time. I like the energy and freshness here.”
93 Points
2018 Beringer Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley

2018 Beringer Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley

with No Comment $100 and overCabernet SauvignonHowell MountainKevin VogtNapaUSA

BERINGER

PRIVATE RESERVE
CABERNET SAUVIGNON 
NAPA VALLEY 2018

2018 Beringer Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley

Jacob and Frederik Beringer purchased 215 acres of prime Napa Valley land in 1868, solidifying Beringer’s reputation as a critical player among the first wineries in the valley. Later on, Beringer purchased a handful of other premium vineyard locations ranging from the valley floor to the highest peaks, garnering extreme complexity and versatility in winemaking styles.
 
The Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon is selected from the best plots of their reserve vineyards, vinified separately, aged 18 months in new French oak, and another 16 months in the bottle. The winery is the first and only in history to have a red wine and white wine honored as the #1 Wine of the Year by Wine Spectator Magazine. The fabulous 2018 vintage is already gaining enthusiastic praise, with many scores in the very high 90s.
 
BERINGER
PRIVATE RESERVE
CABERNET SAUVIGNON 
NAPA VALLEY 2018
Retails at: $170
 
Your Price: $165
 
 
“Wild blackberry, cassis, dark chocolate, tobacco and dark spice on the nose. Dried violets, too. It’s medium-to full-bodied with firm, powdery tannins and a creamy texture. Intense, yet restrained and refined, with a solid core of dark berries and bitter chocolate. Really focused and crafted with exemplary Napa cabernet character…”
98 Points
 
“The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Private Reserve is based on 98% Cabernet Sauvignon and 1% each of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, brought up in 90% new French oak. It’s a beautiful wine that shows the vintage’s pure, elegant, yet concentrated style perfectly. Gorgeous crème de cassis, violets, blueberries, and cedar pencil notes emerge from the glass, and this beauty builds incrementally on the palate, with full-bodied richness, a lively, pure, layered texture, ripe tannins, and a great finish. It can be enjoyed any time over the coming 20-25 years.”
97 Points
 
“The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Private Reserve is every bit as impressive today as it was last year. It might very well be the finest Private Reserve I have ever tasted. More than anything else, the 2018 impresses with its energy and total sense of finesse. It’s a wine that marries power with vibrancy in grand style. As always, most of the fruit is sourced from Beringer’s ranches on Howell Mountain.”
97 Points