2022 Editorial Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve Napa Valley

In 1976, a five-acre vineyard is planted in Calistoga. A close neighbor of California First Growth Chateau Montelena, it becomes a crown jewel of the area, its opulent Cabernet woven into era-defining wines from Duckhorn, Cakebread, and other blue-chip wineries. Estate-bottled Cabs run for $165 minimum.

After decades, the vineyard changes hands, and a few absolutely fabulous barrels of 2022 Cabernet were orphaned. We snap them up. 

Here’s the story, straight from the Napa denizen/journo who turned us on to the deal: 

It was quiet when I reached the end of the dusty road off route 128. Here, in the shadow of the mighty Mt. St. Helena, surrounded by horse ranches and pre-Prohibition-era vineyards, you’re a long way from tasting rooms crowded with tourists. This is the Napa you read about in history books.

I’d gotten wind of a famous Calistoga vineyard planted in the heyday of the 70s that was going to be sold soon. End of an era, people said. I knew the winemaker who made this 2022 vintage—a blazing hot talent trained under 100-point savant Russell Bevan—and finagled an invitation. Or at least, a promise I wouldn’t be arrested for trespassing.

By the time I arrived, the sale had concluded. I found an empty shop, a truck idling in the driveway—and the vines, the magical vines. The warmth here is legendary: temperatures during the day can clock up to 100 degrees, then drop off a cliff at night down to 50. The soils, almost identical to those of Chateau Montelena, are a complex mix of sedimentary, volcanic, and alluvial. The intensely concentrated grapes—part of the DNA of several iconic Napa cuvées through the years—speak for themselves.

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

• ABV 13.90%
• 1.5 hours
• Now – 2030
• 89% Cabernet Sauvignon7% Malbec3% Cabernet Franc1% Petite Sirah
• Serving temperature – 60°
• Cork