Estate Accolades
An east-meets-west styled effort based on a blend of Vine Hill Ranch on the western side of the valley and Tench on the eastern side, with some Collinetta in the mix, the 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve is dense, saturated purple hue and leads with lead pencil, crème de cassis, spring flowers, graphite, peppery herbs, and violet-driven aromatics. It picks up more cedar pencil nuances with air and is full-bodied, with a focused, precise, pure mouthfeel, ultra-fine tannins, integrated acidity, and a blockbuster finish that won’t quit. Based on 90% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Cabernet Franc, aged 22 months in barrels, it has incredible depth and a multi-dimensional, seamless profile that will reward serious patience. It will age for 50 years or more. Drink 2030-2080.
A mix of a few top sites, including Tench, Sleeping Lady, Vine Hill Ranch, and Collinetta, the 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon Double Blessings Michael is a glass-staining purple-hued Cabernet that offers cassis, blueberries, black olives, iron, and smoked tobacco-driven aromatics. It’s full-bodied, rich, and powerful on the palate, with ripe, velvety tannins and a sensational finish. Based on 100% Cabernet Sauvignon and aged 22 months in barrel, it’s a shockingly good, blockbuster effort that still has terrific balance and purity. It should drink brilliantly over the coming 25-30 years or more. Drink 2025-2050.
Sleeping Lady
2023From the cooler valley floor site on the western side of Yountville, the 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon Sleeping Lady brings to mind those old school, classic Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignons. Black fruits, currants, leafy tobacco, black olive, leather, and iron all show on the nose. It’s full-bodied, concentrated, and focused on the palate, with an ultra-classic style, ripe tannins, and a gorgeous finish that keeps you coming back to the glass. Based on 100% Cabernet Sauvignon and aged 22 months in barrels, you should hide bottles for 7-8 years if you can, and it will have 30+ years of longevity. Drink 2032-2062.
From a historic site in Rutherford, the 2023 Beckstoffer Georges III Vineyard is dense purple-hued and offers ultra-classic Napa Valley cassis and blue fruits as well as smoky tobacco and spring flower-like nuances. It’s full-bodied and concentrated, with a layered mouthfeel, ripe, polished, velvety tannins, and a great finish. Based on 100% Cabernet Sauvignon and aged 22 months in barrels, it has impressive balance, texture, and depth, and is a seriously impressive 2023 Cabernet. It should evolve gracefully for at least two decades. Drink 2025-2045.
Napa Valley
2023The 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley comes from a mix of sites including Sleeping Lady, G3, Collinetta, Tench, and a small amount of Vine Hill Ranch and reveals smoky red, blue, and black fruits intermixed with roasted herbs, graphite, meaty, beefy nuances, and some floral notes. It’s rich and full-bodied on the palate, with a pure, layered, seamless mouthfeel, ultra-fine yet building tannins, and a great finish. Based on 100% Cabernet Sauvignon and aged 22 months in barrels, it has the structure and depth to evolve for decades while already offering plenty of hedonistic appeal today. It can be drunk any time over the coming 30 years. Drink 2025-2055.
Based on 60% Cabernet Franc and 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, all from the Tench Vineyard in Oakville, the 2023 Double Blessings Peter Proprietary Red Wine is another inky-hued beauty that offers cassis, liquid blackberries, roasted herbs, espresso, and meaty, beefy nuances. It’s ripe and full-bodied, with a round, opulent profile, velvety tannins, plenty of chocolaty oak, and a great, expansive finish. Aged 22 months in barrels, this opulent, powerful, dense effort has tons of length and character and will reward short-term cellaring. Drink 2030-2055.
Golden Ore
2023From the McGah Vineyard in Rutherford, the 2023 Sauvignon Blanc Golden Ore is a serious Sauvignon that offers honeyed lemon, brioche, white flowers, and hints of green almond. It’s rich and medium-bodied, with a concentrated mid-palate and a great finish that really brings to mind a top Bordeaux Blanc. Based on 100% Sauvignon Blanc and aged 16 months in barrels, it has the depth and texture to evolve nicely over the coming decade. Drink 2025-2035.
“Lastly, the 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve is a powerhouse that defies the vintage. Based on 100% Cabernet Sauvignon sourced from the Tench, Vine Hill Ranch, Georges III, Upper Range, and Sleeping Lady vineyards (a Who’s Who list of top vineyards), it reveals a dense purple hue as well as spectacular notes of crème de cassis, tobacco smoke, chocolate, and graphite. Full-bodied on the palate, it has a concentrated, layered mouthfeel, sweet yet building tannins, no hard edges, and a great finish. It’s one of the most concentrated, impressive wines in the vintage.”
“The 2022 Double Blessings Peter is named after one of the owner’s twins and is based on 60% Cabernet Franc and 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, largely from Beckstoffer’s George III Vineyard, yet wi…th a splash from Tench. Red and black fruits, iron, violets, and candied orange are just some of its nuances, and this beauty is full-bodied, has a ripe, broad, sexy mouthfeel, sweet tannins, and a blockbuster finish. This ripe, upfront, fruit-loaded 2022 will drink well for 10-15 years.”
“Coming from parcels on the eastern side of this vineyard (up against the Silverado Trail), the 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Georges III Vineyard sports a dense purple hue as well as full-bodied… aromas and flavors of ripe red and black fruits, espresso roast, graphite, and darker chocolate. This rich, concentrated 2022 has plenty of mid-palate depth, ripe tannins, and a great finish. I love it today, yet it might even have some upside with 2-3 years of bottle age and drink well through 2037.”
“The 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon Double Blessings Michael (100% Cabernet Sauvignon from the Tench, Georges III, and Sleeping Lady vineyards) is more concentrated and dense, with powerful… aromatics, medium to full body, a pure, layered, supple mouthfeel, and a great finish. This darker fruited, spicy, classic Napa Valley beauty will keep for 15+ years.”
Sleeping Lady
2022“I loved the 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon Sleeping Lady Vineyard, a ripe yet still classic, almost old-school-like beauty that has lots of black fruits, leafy herbs, and crushed stone-like notes as well as… medium to full-bodied richness and depth on the palate. It’s balanced, has terrific purity, ripe yet building tannins, and a great finish. It should keep nicely through 2037.”
Golden Ore
2022“Barrel fermented and aged, the 2022 Sauvignon Blanc has a richer, more serious style in its ripe lemon curd, toasted spice, and honeyed flower-like aromatics. These carry to a medium-bodied, concentrated… Sauvignon Blanc that has integrated acidity and a great finish.”
Napa Valley
2022“The classic 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley is all varietal and comes from a mix of the Georges III, Sleeping Lady, Rocca Collinetta, and Tench vineyards. It has an outstanding nose of red and blac…k fruits, chocolaty oak, graphite, and a touch of chalky minerality. This carries to a medium to full-bodied 2022 offering upfront fruit, ripe, soft tannins, no hard edges, and a great finish. There are roughly 8,000 cases produced, and this is well worth your time and money.”
“How do you craft an Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon that competes with Harlan, Futo, Opus One, and Dalla Valle? With the powers that be, who leverages the best To Kalon Vineyard fruit? This is… winemaker Maayan Koschitzky’s answer to that question. He blended grapes from two benchmark sites in the Oakville appellation — Vine Hill Ranch on the western Mayacamas foothills and Tench on steeper west-facing slopes of the Vaca range. Lovely and classic Oakville nose of pure black fruit, graphite, cassis, and sagebrush notes framed by elegant cedarwood. Full-bodied and layered with spiced plums, blackberry, and crunchy black cherry fruits framed by superfine-grained tannins perfectly sculpted and underscored by wet stone mineral and graphite. A spine of crisp, fine-boned acidity delivers a refreshing finish of blood orange and spring flowers. A complete wine that is seamless. Native yeast in stainless steel with 30 days on the skins.”
Napa Valley
2021“Extremely precise and focused Napa Cabernet sporting black currants, black cherries, and coriander, bright minerality, with fragrant wild herbs and white pepper nuances. Medium to full-bodied. The… tannins are very pointed, precise, and long and have a beautifully sweet edge that seamlessly resolves into perfectly ripe black cherry fruit and currants with a mineral-rich finish. It’s fresh, lacy, and compact. A new project with winemaker Maayan Koschitzky at the helm, who, through the owners, is contracting for fruit with Rocca Family Vineyards in Coombsville, the famous Tench Vineyard and Vine Hill Ranch in Oakville, Beckstoffer Georges III in Rutherford, and Sleeping Lady Vineyard in Yountville. This Cabernet includes grapes sourced from Rocca, Tench, and Sleeping Lady.”
“Double Blessings Michael is full-bodied, with concentrated blackberry fruits, a plethora of grainy tannins, scorched herb aromatics, dried thyme and sage, espresso bean, and mocha. It’s a richly expressi…ve wine with good grip and excellent mineral tension. It’s a sink-your-teeth-in kind of wine with lots of power and drive. It has a long, spicy finish.”
Napa Valley
2021“Powerful, polished and deep, this full-bodied wine is saturated in black fruit, oak char, cocoa and espresso, with layered, fine-grained tannins and a sense of creaminess around the edges. A good bet to improve for 10 years or more. Drink or hold.”
Golden Ore
2021“Rich in texture, generous in flavors, with harmonious hints of butter, vanilla and brioche backed by ripe grapefruit and green apple flavors. Full-bodied, concentrated and long in the finish. Drink now.”
Tigress
2021“In the pale-pink mode of a Provence rosé, this light-bodied (12.5% alcohol) wine offers subtle plum and raspberry aromas plus fresh and crisp cranberry and mineral flavors. Nicely dry and fresh. Drink now.”
“Blended from lots sourced from Tench and Vine Hill Ranch, the 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve is an incredible wine, packing huge volumes of black cherries and vanilla into a full-bodied wine that’s… incredibly rich, plush and creamy. It’s concentrated and tannic without any heaviness and features a long, elegant finish. Combining great sourcing and thoughtful winemaking backed by the latest technology, it’s a super combination and a thrilling wine.”
“All Cabernet Sauvignon, with the sourcing skewed toward Oakville, the 2021 Double Blessings Cabernet Sauvignon Michael delivers slightly oaky overtones backed by ripe black cherries. There’s mo…re upfront fruit here, and the wine is almost jammy, but it’s balanced and savory in the end. Full-bodied, rich and concentrated yet supple, it finishes long, ripe and tannic.”
“Named for one of the family’s twin sons, the 2021 Double Blessings Peter is a blend of 57% Cabernet Franc and 43% Cabernet Sauvignon. Largely sourced from Coombsville, it’s a bit herbal and tobacco… edged but backed by ripe black cherries. Medium to full-bodied, it’s simultaneously concentrated and silky textured, with a long, tannic (but ripe) finish.”
Napa Valley
2021“Simon Family Estate’s 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon reveals scents of black cherries, cassis and hints of pencil shavings on the nose. In the mouth, it’s medium to full-bodied, firm and tannic without being… overly concentrated. It’s just a nicely balanced effort, with enough spine to age gracefully for 15 years or so.”
“All from Oakville (Tench and Vine Hill Ranch), the 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve spent 22 months in new French oak. Pure cassis, darker currants, spring flowers, graphite, and lead pencil are… just some of the nuances here, and it’s medium to full-bodied, concentrated, has integrated acidity, and enough tannins to warrant at least 4-5 years in the cellar. It will keep for 30+ years.”
“The 2021 Double Blessings Michael is more powerful and mineral-laced, with darker currants, iron, chalky minerals, and leafy tobacco to go with a powerful medium to full-bodied style on the palate. It’s… structured, has ripe tannins, and is a very different style compared to the perfumed, elegant, floral Peter release.”
“2021 Simon Family Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, ‘Double Blessings – Peter’ 96+ pts Red and black fruits, flowers, spice, and some gravelly earth all emerge from the 2021 Double Blessings Peter, a… medium to full-bodied red based on Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon. It’s balanced, has ultra-fine tannins, incredible overall balance, and a great finish. It’s a sensational wine.”
Napa Valley
2021“The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley comes from a mix of top sites (98% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Cabernet Franc) and was brought up in 75% new oak. It’s a beautiful wine that has upfron,… juicy cassis and darker berry fruits as well as textbook smoky tobacco, lead pencil, and graphite. It’s full-bodied, has a concentrated, layered mouthfeel, integrated acidity, and a great finish.”