Wines

92 Points! Elegantly structured, with refined black cherry and currant flavors that are accented by tobacco and spice notes as this glides on the sleek finish. Drink now through 2031. - Wine Spectator

98+ Points! The 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select is another magical vintage for this cuvée. All Cabernet Sauvignon from hillside vineyards on the eastern side of Stags Leap, it offers a vivid purple hue as well as extraordinary notes of cassis, black raspberries, violets, camphor, and spring flowers, with perfectly integrated background oak. Full-bodied but not massive, it’s flawlessly balanced on the palate and has ultra-fine tannins, a seamless, elegant mouthfeel, and a great, great finish. It’s another 30- to 40-year wine from this incredible team that readers will absolutely love. - Jeb Dunnuck

The Westerly Cabernet Sauvignon Spring Mountain Reserve 2021 is another sexy effort from one of Napa’s top terroirs. The telltale blackberry, cocoa powder, plum and baking spice (a Spring Mountain signature) notes here lead on to a black fruit-infused palate with hints of anise and coffee. The wine has excellent texture with subtle mountain tannins tamed by the barrel aging. Rounder and a touch more polished and refined than our Architect bottling, this is a mouthful of Cab from arguably the top growing area for Cabernet Sauvignon in America, at a price that's once again astonishes.

96+ Points! The 2009 D'Alceo is quite a bit firmer and more structured than the Sammarco. An exotic melange of dark cherries, plums, grilled herbs, cassis and new leather emerges from the glass, backed up by tons of structure. Over the last few months, the 2009 d'Alceo has softened a bit, releasing expressive, floral aromatics and brighter shades of fruit. This is a wonderfully deep, resonant d'Alceo. The 2009 will drink well with minimum cellaring within the context of prior vintages. According to Luca di Napoli, the trick to 2009 was harvesting on the early side. Judging by this effort, I would say Rampolla nailed the vintage. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media, 2013

93 Points! Lots of tobacco leaf, truffle, cedar, and earthy notes emerge from the 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Jack's Vineyard, and it has a solid core of ripe black fruits, a round, seamless texture, building yet ripe, polished tannins, and a great finish. Coming from a vineyard outside of Walla Walla, it has a forward, soft feel which makes it already hard to resist, yet I see no reason it shouldn't evolve gracefully for 10-15 years. - Jeb Dunnuck

99 Points! A wine that flirts with perfection is the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Stones No. 2, which is all Cabernet Sauvignon from Pritchard Hill. It has a more Mountain vibe in its structure and minerality and gives up lots of red and black fruits, iron, tobacco, and savory, almost bloody aromas and flavors. A monster on the palate, it’s full-bodied, deep, and incredibly concentrated, yet stays balanced, has incredible purity and freshness, and a great, great finish. It needs bottle age, but it’s brilliant juice. - Jeb Dunnuck

Maybe our pick of the litter thus far from their 2021's. A richer wine than the Howell Mountain, but more finely tuned than the Rutherford....

91 Points! Another terrific wine from this estate that represents a smoking value, the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Terra 9 has ripe black fruits, smoked tobacco, chocolate, and iron-like nuances to go with a medium to full-bodied, concentrated, beautifully balanced style. It's going to drink well for 10-12 years with no issues. - Jeb Dunnuck

From Marcey's Vineyard in Calistoga, sage and currant aromatics, black cherry, cassis and vanilla unfold seamlessly on the palate, finishing with a silky and succulent structure. Only 127 cases produced!

99 Points! Flirting with triple digits, and perhaps the best Sorella yet, the 2019 Sorella explodes from the glass with a fantastic mineral essence that sways between dark red fruit tones, oak essence and freshly opened flowers. Medium to full-bodied, the wine is impeccably balanced with a silky-smooth mid-palate that bestows a stunningly beautiful wine with gobs of complexity and a ripe frame of glossy black raspberry and blackberry fruit tones. Unwinding across the finish, the wine unpacks gorgeous layers that seduce me for a second, third and fourth sip and finally begs me to finish the glass. Buy this ASAP! - Anthony Mueller, robertparker.com

95 Points! In 1969, Joe Heitz made a cuvée that was more outstanding than his Napa Cabernet, but not a single-vineyard bottling. In 2018, after the winery was bought by Gaylon Lawrence Jr., the team at Heitz discovered four bottles and decided they should set out to recreate Joe’s experiment. It is the boldest of the bunch: a delicious hedonistic pleasure filled red with excellent balance and teeming with pure dark fruit notes, rich earthen spices, dried purple florals, cedarwood, tobacco, and dark chocolate — a firm acid backbone frames fine-grained tannins. There is plenty of richness, balanced by tension and energy. Lawrence Wine Estates Master Sommelier and CEO Carlton McCoy calls it the ‘uber Napa cuvee’ and the best multi-site expression of Heitz for the vintage. - Decanter Magazine

93 Points! Expressive, with a bold menthol note followed quickly by boysenberry and blackberry compote flavors wrapped in black licorice. The long finish has a tug of earth amid a generally velvety feel, while the menthol note curls around the fruit. Distinctive. Drink now through 2038. - Wine Spectator

99 Points! Complex and intense with a rare mineral quality for the hot 2020 vintage. Fresh blueberries, wild herbs, hot stones and graphite. A hint of violet. Tannins are quite chalky and tense on the medium- to full-bodied palate. Extremely long with an ethereal finish. It goes on and on, lasting for two minutes. Effortless intensity and concentration, but almost weightless. This delivers exceptional freshness for this vintage. Harvested from 18th March. Already drinkable now, but it will last. 100% century-old, ungrafted cabernet sauvignon. 500 cases only. - JamesSuckling.com

94 Points! An elegant and pretty complex expression with an array of red and black cherries, grilled spices, tapenade and roasted red pepper. Some firm, nicely chewy tannins on the medium- to full-bodied palate gives a tight structure to the juicy fruit. Dialled back and fresh. Shows the angular tannins from the granitic soils. Drinkable now, but better after 2024. - JamesSuckling.com