The Wines

Scharfenberger “Brut” Excellence, Mendocino County, NV

“A well-rounded, supple texture surrounds attractive toast and nut flavors in this suave and mouthfilling wine. Notes of biscuit, peach and toasted bread give it a nice sense of maturity and complexity.”

91-93 Points Wine Enthusiast

Red “Napanook”, Dominus, Napa Valley Yountville, 2018

While your Dominus Prop Red sleeps like a baby in the cellar, Napanook is a gift that keeps on giving. Youthful and exuberant, bold and lively, this Bordeaux style blend of Cabernet Sauvignon with Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc is meant to be shared around the table year-round with your very favorite wine lovers. Christian Moueix’s commitment to perfection from the vine to the glass can always be counted on to deliver a memorable wine.

93 Points Wine Advocate

Red “Overture”, Opus One, Napa Valley, NV

This is supple with clear ripe berry fruits, generous and fully ripe, tempered by white pepper spice and smoked cedar notes. It has a gentle but confident tannic frame and mouthwatering lift on the finish. This is focused and ready to drink and impresses with its rippling silk texture.

91 Points Decanter

Cabernet Sauvignon, Altamura, Napa Valley, 2017

Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon rocks up with gregarious black cherries, blackcurrants and warm plums with hints of menthol, chocolate box and fragrant earth. Big, rich and full-bodied, with loads of minted black berry and earthy layers, it has a firm, grainy frame and fantastic length.

94 Points James Suckling

Red, Dominus, Yountville/Napa Valley, 2017

The 2017 Dominus is one of the truly epic, grand wines of the vintage. Rich, dense and explosive, with tremendous concentration and sheer power, the 2017 Dominus captures all the personality of this site along with the natural opulence of the year. Inky dark fruit, lavender, menthol, licorice, plum, gravel and a host of dark spice notes infuse the 2017 with seemingly endless layers of nuance. Over the last two years I have tasted several hundred Napa Valley Cabernets, both from barrel and bottle. There is no question that Dominus belongs among the elite in 2017; it is simply a breathtaking wine. Certainly readers looking for a Napa Valley Cabernet to cellar should put Dominus at the top of their lists.

98 Points Vinous

Red, Opus One, Napa Valley, 2017

A fist of late summer cherries, raspberry and bilberry fruits set out their stall, all with the juicy character that confirms, even in a hot vintage like 2017, Opus can deliver balance and sculpted elegance. Beautiful grip, creamy texture with a strikingly powerful tannic frame. As the wine stays in the glass the floral aromatics begin to bloom up. A brilliant Opus. 20 days maceration – around half what it would have been a decade ago. 54% native yeast, as part of their native yeast project. 5% Merlot and 1% Malbec complete the blend. Harvest spread out over September 5 to October 8, just before the fires, by which time they had less than 10% of the fruit still out on the vines.

96 Points Decanter

Red, Ulysses, Oakville/Napa Valley, 2017

Extremely aromatic with crushed berries, currants, flowers and hints of uncured tobacco leaf. Carnations. Medium to full body and extremely fine tannins that are firm and polished. Vertical tannins draw you down. Some blanched-walnut character to the blue fruit. Fresh and clean at the finish. Release in spring 2020. So beautiful to drink now.

96 Points James Suckling

Cabernet Sauvignon, Far Niente Napa Valley, 2018

Including small amounts of Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Malbec, the 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon sports a deep purple color as well as classic Cabernet notes of blackcurrants, new leather, tobacco leaf, flowers, and lead pencil. Beautifully done on the palate and made in a seamless, elegant style, it has a kiss of Pauillac in its nicely integrated acidity, ripe, building tannins, a touch of earthiness, and a great finish. It’s not a blockbuster, just seamless and elegant, with a thrilling character. It should keep for 20+ years.

95 Points Jeb Dunnuck

Cabernet Sauvignon “Special Selection”, Caymus, Napa Valley, 2017

Caymus Special Selection is the flagship wine of the Wagner family and, as such, demands an even more uncompromising eye toward perfection. Made from the very best barrels of the vintage, and not made at all in difficult years, this pleasure-bent bottling is ripe and lush with seamless structure and hedonistic intentions.

Cabernet Sauvignon, La Sirena, Napa Valley, 2017

The crown jewel of La Sirena and peak Heidi Barrett, this Cabernet has all the classic, elegant balance we expect from this legendary winemaker. Made in the layered, Bordeaux-styling that brought her such acclaim at Screaming Eagle, this is opulent and lush in its youth but has decades of potential still in the bottle. While Heidi continues to garner praise for her work in the cellar – voted 2021’s “Best Winemaker” in Napa Valley Life Magazine once again – her daughter Remi works behind the scenes making certain we always get our hands on this excellent juice! That’s one team we’ll keep rooting for.

“I always enjoy tasting the wines Heidi Barrett makes under her La Sirena label. At their best, the wines have a whimsical, child-like exuberance that is impossible to miss.”
–Antonio Galloni, Vinous

Cabernet Sauvignon, Barnett Vineyards, Spring Mountain/Napa Valley, 2018

“In 2018 climatic conditions were perfect up on Spring Mountain. This Cabernet is evidence of that. Fresh blackberry, anise and mocha are the first things apparent on the nose followed by cola, acai berry and menthol. This is a silky lush wine with layers of dark chocolate, cedar and freshly ground coffee. The tannins are chiefly present, being round pleasing chalky tannins with firm mountain acid balancing them out. The finish is chocolate-covered plum. This powerhouse Cabernet is already showing well and will develop even more complexity over the next 10-12 years.” Winemaker Notes

Red, Continuum, Sage Mountain/Napa Valley, 2016

The 2016 Proprietary Red Wine Sage Mountain Vineyard may very well be the single greatest vintage made here thus far. It is quite simply a stunning wine and a towering achievement from the Mondavi family. Powerful, ample and sweeping in stature, the 2016 boasts breathtaking intensity in all of its dimensions. I see the pure, vibrant fruit of the 2013, but with more finessed tannins that add to the wine’s feeling of real sensuality. Bright, precise and finely sculpted with remarkable persistence and perfectly integrated tannins, the 2016 is positively stellar – not to mention one of the wines of the vintage.

100 Points Vinous

Cabernet Sauvignon, Dunn Vineyards, Howell Mountain/Napa Valley, 2016

Wiry, opinionated and something of a recluse, Randy Dunn has a reputation for making sleek, powerfully structured, extremely ageworthy mountain Cabernet. He is also adamant on the topic of ripeness, vowing in 2007 that he would never make a wine with more than 14% alcohol by volume. The 2016, like most Dunn Cabernets, has not an ounce of body fat. It’s tight, lean, and focused with soaring fine tannin and lots of fantastic savory and spicy flavors from black olives to Chinese 5-spice. The fruit has almost a cool blue character. While I loved drinking this 2016, this wine won’t truly unfurl itself for another several years.

97 points Decanter

Dolce, Far Niente Napa Valley, 2012

This is divinely sweet without ever becoming cloying. A blend of 89% Sémillon and 11% Sauvignon Blanc from grapes grown in Coombsville, it offers a clean, creamy palate of peat, caramel, vanilla wafer, nuts and honey. If a finishing touch of sweetness is needed at the end of any meal, this is your wine.

98 Points Wine Enthusiast