By Jeb Dunnuck |
December 21, 2022A blend put together by Bevan from the single vineyards, the Ontogeny cuvée is year-in, year-out one of the greatest values in Cabernet Sauvignon. His 2019 Ontogeny is no exception, revealing a dense purple hue as well as rock star notes of crème de cassis, violets, tobacco leaf, and chocolate. It’s a big, classic Bevan wine and has remarkable purity, silky, polished tannins, and not a hard edge to be found. Don’t miss it!
View full postFrom a site in Stags Leap, the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Regusci Vineyard offers up an iron, almost bloody vibe in its assorted dark fruits, chocolate, crushed stone, and violet-tinged aromas and flavors. Hitting the palate with full-bodied richness, I love its tannins, and it has flawless balance as well as a great finish.
View full postAnother incredible wine from talented winemaker Caitlin Lhommeau, the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon shows incredible refinement and elegance while at the same time bringing serious richness and depth. Pure cassis, blueberries, violets, and floral notes emerge on the nose, and it’s full-bodied and seamless on the palate, with beautiful balance and polish to its mouthfeel. It’s a stunning wine any way you look at it. Drink bottles over the coming 15-20 years.
View full postI loved the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon, which emerges from Russell Bevan’s cellar hand, Michael Savaiano. Deep purple/plum-hued, with a great nose of bloody blue fruits, iron, Asian spices, and chocolate, it hits the palate with full-bodied richness, a deep, unctuous mouthfeel, and a blockbuster of a finish. Drink it any time over the coming 15+ years.
View full postRiper and more voluptuous, the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Wight Vineyard is a selection from the estate vineyard and a smaller production release. It has a wealth of ripe black fruits, smoke tobacco, chocolate, and violets, with more lead pencil and earthy nuances emerging with time in the glass. Concentrated, full-bodied, yet balanced and incredibly pure, it's another terrific, seamless wine from this estate readers will love. I like it today, but give bottles a year or three and enjoy over the following 20+.
View full postStarting with the base cuvée, the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon isn't far off the Reserve and offers a sensational bouquet of ripe red and black currant fruits as well as chocolate, smoked tobacco, spice box, dried flowers, and classy oak. Young, up-front, full-bodied, and perfectly balanced, it has incredible purity of fruit, the sweet, velvety tannins that are common in the vintage, no hard edges, and a great finish. This is one heck of a sexy, seamless 2019 that can be enjoyed any time over the coming 20-25 years. The blend is 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Cabernet Franc, 6% Petit Verdot, 4% Malbec, and 3% Merlot, aged 20 months in 80% new French oak.
View full postThe 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon One Point Five is a gem of a wine that readers will love to have in their cellars. Sweet cassis, violets, and graphite define the bulk of the aromas, and it’s a classic Napa Valley Cabernet on the palate with its full-bodied richness, velvety tannins, and opulent yet balanced style. A blend of 83% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Merlot, and the rest Malbec and Petit Verdot, raised 20 months in new barrels, it’s going to keep for a solid two decades. There are 9,000 cases of this beauty made.
View full postThe 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve Napa Valley comes from a mix of all the single vineyards. Readers should never overlook this type of wine, as the ability to blend from multiple sites gives winemakers incredible flexibility, and these wines can represent smoking values. Full-bodied aromas and flavors of currants, chocolate, lead pencil, and graphite emerge from this beauty, and it’s ripe, mouth-filling and balanced, with a great texture. It’s in the running for the best Napa Cabernet Sauvignon at the price point.
View full postThe 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon is brilliant and has classic varietal aromas and flavors of cassis and dark currants as well as tobacco, cedar pencil, espresso, and spring flowers. With medium to full body, a seamless, elegant mouthfeel, silky tannins, and impeccable balance, it's well worth seeking out and a multi-bottle purchase. I'd certainly be thrilled to have bottles in the cellar. It will have 15-20 years of longevity.
View full postThe 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley just about blows the door off the value category, and readers will be hard pressed to find a better Cabernet Sauvignon at the price. A blend of 89% Cabernet Sauvignon and 11% Cabernet Franc, from a handful of top sites, it offers a deep purple hue, notes of red, blue, and black fruits, violets, and spicy wood, medium to full body, a round, layered mouthfeel, and a great finish. The purity of fruit is spot on, and this can be drunk today or cellared for 10-15 years. Hats off to winemaker Jennifer Williams for another no-brainer value.
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The below list is pulled from our 2019 Napa Valley coverage and features the top Cabernet Sauvignons at $100 or less. While value can be hard to define and depends on many factors, the below list encompasses wines I believe punch well above the price point, and these all compete with wines at 2 to 3 times the price.
