2012 QTR Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 750 ml

Howell Mountain Power, Perfectionist’s Craft

If you want to know why I love my job, it’s because of opportunities like this. The cage doors to one Napa’s boutique library cellars have been thrown open: This tiny-production, limited-release 2012 QTR Cabernet Sauvignon from a site in the foothills of Howell Mountain was crafted by Philippe Melka, one of the most decorated 100-point winemakers of our time. It is a muscular effort packed with all the red-fruit concentration and opulence of Napa’s historic 2012 vintage, a perfect cellar-aged high-altitude Cabernet, with sturdy tannins underpinning an explosive aromatic bouquet. A mere 380 cases were produced, some held back, and we’ve managed to pry away an exclusive allocation from the library’s reserve. We are excited to offer it to you for just $99.

It’s hard to have a conversation about the greatest wines from Napa Valley—or indeed the world—without someone dropping the name of winemaker Philippe Melka. The French-born winemaker learned the ropes from Jean-Bernard Delmas (Haut-Brion) and Christian Moueix (Petrus). According to Robert Parker, Melka is one of the world’s top winemakers—and his work at Dominus, Hundred Acre, Bryant Family, Tusk, and Dana Estates backs that up. He’s racked up many 100-point scores for wines that are mostly unattainable. So naturally Melka’s name was atop the list of winemakers Natan and Jessica Bibliowicz wanted when they decided to start a winery.

Occupying a similar spot on the list of vineyard managers they hoped for was the name “Jim Barbour.” The Napa native grew up as a hardworking hand on his family’s ranch in Rutherford. In his 30 years of viticultural experience—working with the late legendary vineyard pioneer Frank “Laurie” Wood—Barbour gained a reputation for being able to make the toughest and most difficult sites, like steep Spring Mountain hillside plots, produce miraculous results.

Barbour planted QTR’s vineyard in 2000 in the foothills of Howell Mountain, on the lower slopes of a site where the rocky, volcanic soil provides ideal conditions for Cabernet and exposure ensures full ripening. Elevation here reaches 1,200 feet, offering a breathtaking view, one of the best in Napa. Take a gander southeast and you can spy the hallowed grounds of the Bryant Family Vineyard on Pritchard Hill. Hot afternoon sunshine fills the berries with racy concentration, tempered by cool mountain winds.

Barbour tended to the vines for a dozen years without a bottle ever leaving the estate, lavishing painstaking care on the four Cabernet clones he had planted in a just-over-6-acre vineyard holding seven small plots. In 2012, the decision was made to let Melka go to work. It was, of course, an auspicious year, celebrated as “near perfect,” a “watershed,” “absolutely hedonistic.”

QTR has since released a bevy of stunning Cabernets and Chenin Blancs, but as they say, you always remember your first. This is a collector’s item that will continue to grow in stature for another decade.