2012 Duckhorn Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Three Palms Vineyard Napa Valley 750 ml

2012 Duckhorn Cabernet Sauvignon Three Palms Vineyard: Knickerbocker Fire Company #5

At the age of seven, Lillie Hitchcock Coit was rescued by a firefighter from a burning hotel. Years later, to repay her debt, she became the fire engine company's most prominent patron. Known for her philanthropy, legendary parties, and devotion to the Knickerbocker Fire Engine Company #5, Lillie would leave significant marks on the Bay Area when she passed away.

One came in the form of the Coit Tower, a slender 210-foot concrete column that rises atop Telegraph Hill, an ageless emblem of the San Francisco skyline. Another was Coit's Napa Valley residence, sadly left in disuse and ruin after the crash in 1929.

The Napa property was set on the rocky volcanic soils in the northeastern side of the valley created by the outwash of Selby Creek where it spills out of Dutch Henry Canyon. At the time of her death, the estate manor was dilapidated, but three lonely palm trees remained. Sixty years later, Coit's palms would become one of wine country's most legendary markers.

Fast-forward 45 years. Dan Duckhorn and the brilliant Napa Valley winemaker Ric Forman were hatching a plan. The duo took off for Paris, then trained down to Bordeaux, where they'd spend the better part of a year studying both the Right and Left Banks of the world's greatest wine route. After each trip, Duckhorn would return to Napa, scouting the valley for vineyard opportunities that might offer First Growth potential. Finally, in 1978, Duckhorn and Forman came home and concluded their 18-month study by contracting for 15 acres of vineyard land planted all around Lillie Hitchcock Coit's three palm trees. So began the story of two of the most sought-after Bordeaux-style red wines in Napa Valley history.

Beginning in the late 1980s, every top steakhouse in America stood in line for its annual allocation of Dan Duckhorn's Three Palms Merlot. As demand exploded and Duckhorn's direct mailing list grew in tandem, little by little Three Palms became harder and harder to locate at retail. But even as the Three Palms Vineyard became best known for its Merlot, it was the far smaller production of Duckhorn’s Three Palms Cabernet Sauvignon that most captured the imagination of Napa Valley collectors.

The 2012 Three Palms Cabernet Sauvignon is an absolute powerhouse, and one of the truly extraordinary Cabernets of this extraordinary vintage. Brilliant ruby-purple. Gorgeous aromatically, infused with crushed red fruits, black cherry, black raspberry, and a hint of mahogany. Still in its infancy, packed with black raspberry preserves, tobacco, and sweet sandalwood, a splash of crème de cassis — at once dense, compact, and perfectly light on its feet — finishing with sturdy backbone that argues powerfully for a decade or two of cellar slumber. Drink now-2032.

$90/bottle. 240 are up for grabs. Shipping included on 3.