2012 Rudd Oakville Estate Samantha's Cabernet Sauvignon 750 ml

PRESS Whispers & Leslie Rudd’s Oakville Cabernet

When we were last in Napa Valley, tasting barrel after barrel of the 2014s to get a read on the vintage, the experience left us a little peckish. This time, The French Laundry was out of the question, as our collective per diem wouldn’t get us more than a bowl of peanuts at the bar.

We had always heard whispers back east about how fantastic the restaurant PRESS was. Leslie Rudd’s St. Helena gem had imported a chef from Blue Hill and a sommelier from Veritas, both NYC institutions. We had heard great things about the wine program particularly. PRESS is known for its old vintages of some of the greatest Napa Valley wines ever made: BV and Inglenook from the ‘50s. Chappellet from the 1960s. Ridge and Heitz Martha’s Vineyard from the ‘70s. This kind of wine list collects the finest of what Napa Valley has to offer, proving to the world that Napa’s best can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Bordeaux.

We sat down and PRESS sommelier Kelli White came over with a few glasses of Champagne. We traded notes about our impressions of the 2014s and caught up on our busy lives. We ordered steak frites and peppered Kelli with questions about the list. We traded opinions about the menthol quality of some of the selections.

Before our entrees came out, Kelli brought us three glasses of wine, blind. She wanted our opinions of one of her favorite Napa Cabs of 2012. It was beautiful, a young wine but so pure. In the great Napa vintages we always find an ashy note of rosemary that speaks to how great the growing season was. This wine had it in spades. The nose was fresh with dark fruit: blackberries, cassis, black cherries. There was a mineral freshness and a long, persistent finish. We loved it. What wine was it? The 2012 Rudd Samantha’s Cabernet Sauvignon.

Our annual knock on Leslie’s door usually comes months from now, but after our tasting we jumped the gun. Maybe it was the timing, maybe Kelli put in a good word for us — we prefer to think our persistence FINALLY paid off. 240 bottles are up for grabs. $135/bottle — as if the price for this outstanding 2012 really mattered.