Dunnuck: a “30+-year legend in the making”
- 100 pts The Wine Independent100 pts TWI
- Curated by unrivaled experts
- Choose your delivery date
- Temperature controlled shipping options
- Get credited back if a wine fails to impress
2021 Vine Hill Ranch (VHR) Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville 750 ml
- Curated by unrivaled experts
- Choose your delivery date
- Temperature controlled shipping options
- Get credited back if a wine fails to impress
One of Napa Valley’s Enchanted Terroirs
The 100-point 2019 Vine Hill Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon is a stirring, age-worthy masterpiece sourced from an iconic site and crafted by 2017 San Francisco Chronicle Winemaker of the Year Françoise Peschon.
Napa denizen and former Wine Advocate chief Lisa Perrotti-Brown of The Wine Independent gave this a perfect score. Antonio Galloni of Vinous praised it as “magnificent,” while Jeb Dunnuck called it a “30+-year legend in the making.”
Vine Hill Ranch stands with To Kalon, Eisele, and Dr. Crane as one of the defining Cabernet Sauvignon sites in all of Napa Valley. It was founded by Marin County rancher Bruce Kelham, who in 1959 purchased more than 1,000 acres on the varied terrain where the Mayacamas Mountains meet the valley floor.
In 1978, Bruce’s daughter Alexandra and her husband Bob Phillips moved to the western Oakville property, took over the farming, and refocused on the vineyards, which now cover 70 acres. In the 1980s, they worked with UC Davis and famed vintner Tony Soter, researching the terroir and dividing the property into seven unique vineyard blocks. They then subdivided those blocks and chose their clones, rootstock, and planting density based on what would thrive on each one.
This replanting coincided with a movement toward site-specific wines in Napa, and Vine Hill Ranch became a prized site, supplying grapes to icons like Araujo, Cakebread (which makes a vineyard-designate bottling), Lail, Robert Mondavi, and other Cabernet icons. Just over a decade ago, Vine Hill Ranch produced their own wine for the first time, and with winemaking duties in the hands of Haut-Brion-trained Peschon, the results have been spectacular.