2015 GKG Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley

Harpooned by Silver Oak, Enchanted by Orin Swift Founder

Napa Cabernet collectors, how about an easy one today? This 2015 GKG Cellars Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is the 96-point “full-bodied, nuanced, and seamless,” wine that floored longtime Wine Advocate critic, Jeb Dunnuck. But wait, it gets better.

The 2014 vintage, which we offered last September, has equally floored Wine Access members, who, all told, have showered on the praise. It’s overall rating? PERFECTION: 5 out of 5 stars! And that was for a 94-point Cabernet! The 2015 vintage has two-upped it with 96-points, which really should come as no surprise, given its a wine that bears the unmistakably lush, full-bodied, and opulent winemaking style of Dave Phinney—the founder of Orin Swift’s The Prisoner, and mastermind behind Locations wines.

GKG is a partnership between Phinney and legendary Hollywood photographer Greg Gorman, whose celebrity portrait works—from Warhol and De Niro to Streisand and Minelli—have been featured in practically every major museum you can name, touching every corner of the globe. Gorman fell in love with wine over long dinners in NYC with Sydney Pollack and Dustin Hoffman, where Barolo was often the wine of choice. But it was a bottle of Silver Oak Napa Valley Cabernet that did him in.  

When Gorman decided to make his own Cabernet, he found the right partner in Phinney, whose own celebrity goes a long way in Napa. Phinney has access to any fruit he desires, no matter the cost. For GKG, this power duo set their sights on Lewelling Vineyards in the western foothills of St. Helena—also a source for Arrow & Branch. And as luck would have it, 2015 was another Cabernet dream vintage, turning out, “singular, majestic wines that could come from nowhere else in the world; they are unmistakably Napa,” says Dunnuck, who describes the best as “rich, powerful wines endowed with plenty of sweet tannins.”

The only downfall of the vintage was a cool, wet and windy spring which slashed yields in half. While Phinney prefers to turn out around 400 cases of GKG, he only made 225 cases in 2015, most of which have gone to GKG’s mailing list and to Norman’s favorite L.A. hotspots: Spago by Wolfgang Puck, and the iconic Chateau Marmont.    

Released at $150, we secured 380 bottles at the best price in the nation—just $110 each, a full 27% off. Coming to you in perfect condition, with perfect provenance from GKG’s cellars.

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

• ABV 15.50%
• 30 mins
• Now – 2030
• 96% Cabernet Sauvignon2% Cabernet Franc1% Malbec1% Merlot
• Serving temperature – 60°
• Cork