2014 Cahoots by Pina Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley

A Cult Cabernet Producer’s Hidden Gem

I’m constantly on the hunt for Napa’s hidden-gem Cabernet beauties — the ones that (just barely) elude the pen of the venerable critic and fly under-the-radar. This 2014 Cahoots by Piña Cabernet Sauvignon is my latest discovery. The winemaker is the brilliant Anna Monticelli who spent a year working in Château Cheval Blanc’s legendary cellars, and then as assistant winemaker at Seavey Vineyard and five years at Bryant Family assisting Philippe Melka. At Piña, Monticelli’s single-vineyard Napa reds have achieved cult-status, and fetch $85 or more per bottle. This 2014 Cahoots is a black-fruited, powerful and bold Cabernet that is a masterful blend of fruit destined for those single-vineyard Piña wines, with additional choice grapes culled from hillside sites in Napa, Yountville, Oakville, Rutherford and Howell Mountain. Terrific black fruit a spice aromas give way to a creamy mouthfeel over supple tannins with a mouthwatering dark-chocolate finish — at $49.99 per bottle, this is your chance to own a Napa Cabernet under-the-radar treasure.   

The secret to discovering exceptional Cabernet in Napa Valley, the kind that wows in an under-$50 package, like this 2014 Cahoots, is really no secret at all: just look at the pedigree of the people behind the label. In the case of the Piña family, their relatives didn’t strike it rich during the Gold Rush era of the 1850s, but they bought farmland along the Silverado Trail that would — for generations to come — yield the fruits of a different kind of gold mine.

Eight generations of Piña family grape-growers, and one great-great-grandfather who made wine at Inglenook after Gustave Niebaum’s death in 1908, paved the way for one of the most respected families of growers in the valley. And if you’re the grower, you control the quality of your fruit. So, give your best grapes to a winemaker like Anna Monticelli, and the results speak for themselves.

Vanessa Conlin DipWSET
Wine & Spirit Education Trust Diploma

• Fruit Intensity
• Oak Intensity
• Body
• Acidity
• Tannin

• ABV 14.50%
• Enjoy right away
• Drink Up
• % Cabernet Sauvignon
• Serving temperature – 65°
• Cork