Exploring Napa Cabernet Sauvignon with 3 Innovative Winemakers

There are more than 1,700 registered wineries in the Napa Valley, contributing more than $34 billion to the U.S. economy every year. The relatively small region—Napa represents just 0.4% of the world’s wine production—has an outsize presence on the world wine stage. Napa’s incredible success was, strange to say, launched with one staged blind tasting in France. 

The Judgment of Paris, conducted in 1976 and judged by French critics, shocked the world when two Napa wineries—a 1973 Chardonnay from Chateau Montelena and a 1973 Cabernet Sauvignon from Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars—beat out iconic Burgundy and Bordeaux estates. 

While it is impossible to precisely chart cause and effect, wine experts agree that the one contest, which made headlines around the world, contributed more to the growth of the Napa Valley than almost any other factor, except—of course—for the terroir that paved the way for the win. After the Judgment, growers and winemakers poured into the Valley investing in vineyards and wineries, and consistently producing critically acclaimed wines year after year. Cabernet Sauvignon in Napa has become dear as a result; last year, grapes crushed in Napa received the highest price per ton ($6,102.18) in California. 

I recently visited Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars to celebrate the release of their FAY & S.L.V 2019 Cabernet Sauvignons and marveled at what seems, in retrospect, to be the inevitable eminence of the region. 

Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars’ role in Napa’s rise has been instrumental, but to understand the region completely, it’s instructive to look at the both the companies that built Napa and newer arrivals, and how all are pushing forward and innovating. 

Louis M. Martini

Louis M. Martini began making wine in 1906, initially with fruit from Lodi. The first batch was a bust, so the 19-year-old—who’d spent the past six years working at his family’s nascent shellfish operation—went to his native Italy to learn the art and science of winemaking, explains Martini’s director of winemaking, Michael Eddy.  

Martini returned to California, working odd jobs—often in wine—and purchased and built the winery that made his name in 1933. Soon after, he was able to secure Monte Rosso Vineyard, right over the Napa border in Sonoma’s Mayacamas Mountains. The historic vineyard was planted in 1880 by Emmanuel Goldstein, and even today features Semillon planted in 1886 and Zinfandel from 1893. But he set the stage for Cabernet Sauvignon’s rise by planting the grape soon after buying the property; the Rosso vineyard has what many believe are the oldest producing Cabernet vines in California, Eddy notes. 

Over the decades, Martini acquired new vineyards for Cabernet, including Cypress Ranch in Pope Valley, and Stagecoach Vineyard in volcanic soil on the eastern edge of Napa.

“Louis and his son Louis P. were dedicated to Cabernet, and instrumental in developing Napa as wine region,” Eddy says. “Louis was one of the founding members of the Napa Valley Vintners Association, and he continuously pushed forward new techniques, like cold fermentation, and protecting vines from frost damage with wind machines.”

If you visit: In 2019, Martini completed a dramatic restoration of the historic winery with famed architect Howard Backen. The winery honors its roots, highlighting original terra cotta wall tiles, alongside contemporary elements for a modern and comfortably luxurious feel. 

You’ll find a range of tastings and wine-and-food experiences created by estate chef Aaron Meneghelli in the Heritage Lounge, Wine Study and Underground Cellar on-site. Eddy’s personal favorite is the Crown Bar, a small jewel of an area with a wall of windows overlooking the barrel cellar. There are also outdoor tasting areas in a sycamore grove. Make a reservation here. 

Bottles to try: The Louis M. Martini Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2018, the winery’s flagship, which retails for $50. This wine is classic Napa Cab: blackberries, cherries, mocha, spice, decadent. It was a 2021 NY International Wine Competition gold winner.

The Lot 1 2018, a barrel selection of Eddy’s favorite lots of Cabernet around Napa, this wine retails for $225. That year, the wines were harvested from Stagecoach Vineyard, Mount Veeder, Atlas Peak, and Howell Mountains. Blueberries, red fruit, dried herbs, black pepper, mocha, muscle. 

“Lot 1 speaks of what Napa can deliver as an AVA,” Eddy explains. 

Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars

The FAY Outlook & Visitor Center was designed by Javier Barba with the goal of putting the panoramic views of the estate vineyards and the Stags Leap Palisades to the best effect. The wine caves, estate grounds and estate vineyards showcase vineyard manager Kirk Grace’s dedication to organic farming techniques, from cover crops, to wildflowers and offer occasional glimpses of munching sheep. 

History  and sense of promise is what drew winemaker Marcus Notaro to Stag’s Leap in 2013. “I hope to carry on its rich legacy and maintain our house style, while looking for ways to increase the quality and create the best expressions of our vineyards,” Notaro explains. “Cabernet Sauvignon allows us to do that because it can make a rich, powerful wine without being heavy, while expressing where it was grown. The goal is complex, ageable wine that expresses the terroir of the vineyard.”

The vineyards Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars is most celebrated for are the FAY and S.L.V. estate vineyards, and they also prove Notaro’s point about how one grape variety grown and produced by the same team in the same region can taste so different. 

“They’re very different,” Notaro explains. “The configuration of S.L.V. is long and narrow with a northeast-southwest orientation. Vine spacing, with the exception of Block 4 (the oldest section in the vineyard), is uniform so the property is relatively easy to farm. On the other hand, the FAY vineyard is more ‘square’ and because of this it affords us the ability to experiment with row direction and spacing.”

Notaro acknowledges that the winemaking has evolved considerably as well. 

“When Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars was established, this was a very innovative winery for its time,” he says. “It’s fun for me to look back at the fermentation protocols which are much different than today.  Stem inclusion during destemming, short, hot fermentations followed by sterile filtration and short barrel aging were the norm.  The vineyards were very different as well, dry farmed, with large vines attempting to ripen a much higher crop level than today, with vigorous rootstocks and virus issues.”

If you visit: Indoor and outdoor tasting experiences and guided tours of the Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars cave are available. You can compare vintages and estates, paired with seasonal and imaginative bites from Chef Travis Westrope. Private tastings focused on rare older vintages can also be arranged. Make reservations here. 

Bottles to try: The 2019 FAY Cabernet Sauvignon is fragrant, offering up notes of raspberries and boysenberries. The wine is polished but alive, with tangy red fruits, jasmine, berries. Harmonious, elegant. 

2019 S.L.V. Cabernet Sauvignon is darker, moodier, bigger. Black currants and plums, cocoa dust, violets, a full-bodied powerhouse. 

Perchance Estates

The creation of Perchance Estates is pure Napa happenstance and magic. Founders Dean and Katie Papadakis and Heath and Cary Fear came to Napa for a 50th birthday party, intending to have a convivial, but brief weekend relationship with the storied region. They eschewed the business of downtown and rented a home, offering to host an evening with close friends Mike and Leah Smith. 

Mike Smith had spent the past decade climbing the rungs of the wine world in Napa, first crafting wine at Schrader, Rivers Marie and Outpost, and then launching his own label, Myriad for which he has earned 16 100-point scores for his Cabernet Sauvignon from Wine Advocate and Jeb Dunnuck. After a long night of catching up and enjoying the fruits of Smith’s labor, he revealed that there were a few lonely rows of Cabernet Sauvignon looking for a good home from Beckstoffer Vineyard Georges III. The vineyard is one of the crown jewels of Napa’s terroir, and learning that Cabernet Sauvignon was available there is like learning that the Queen is looking to offload a few of her better jewels: it simply doesn’t come up. 

The Papadakis’ and Fears came to Napa to drink the wine and eat cake, and left with a tentative plan to become vintners. 

“The terroir at Georges III is truly unrivaled, and it seemed like an incredible opportunity for all of us to work together,” Smith says. “We were able to secure three distinct vineyard blocks that we pick and ferment separately and then blend. The overall complexity is what creates the complex and layered expression we were all looking for.”

Smith ages the wines for 20 months in 100% French Oak, with two different types, Tonnelleri Darnajou and Taransoud French Oak. This year, Perchance is scaling up its production—to a 350 cases. 

“It’s a very special wine, and it wouldn’t be as special if we didn’t monitor every single barrel individually like we can at this size,” Smith says. 

If you visit: The tasting space is at Tamber Bey in Calistoga, where the wine is made. Set on a horse ranch, it harkens back to Napa’s earlier days. 

“Think Restoration Hardware meets horse county,” Smith quips. Reservations are encouraged, and either Smith or his wife will be there to guide you through a personalized tasting. 

Bottle to (try to) try: The 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon sold out in a matter of hours. But it was a beauty, exuberant dark fruit, huckleberries, floral notes, that Rutherford dust. Hang tight for the 2020—in fact, perhaps you should get on the ever-lengthening wait list. The Perchance Estates Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Georges III Vineyard 2018 was a 2021 NY International Wine Competition gold winner.

Napa is many things to many people, and its constant evolution is a key to its success. The Napa County Board of Supervisors recently approved “micro winery” licenses, enabling growers to produce and sell wine from their family farms, without having to invest millions in facilities and permits. In Napa what’s old is new again.