2013 DeSante Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville Fortuna Vineyard 750 ml

Oakville Arithmetic: David DeSante’s Fortuna Vineyard Masterpiece

Turnbull’s Fortuna Vineyard ranks among the most prized Cabernet Sauvignon plantings in Napa Valley. Set in the heart of Oakville, where the Oakville Cross Road intersects Silverado Trail, the 59-acre parcel is comprised of ancient red volcanic soils from the adjoining Vaca Range, making for extraordinarily dark, spicy, intensely concentrated Cabernets.

Over the last decade, and especially in the last three years, Napa Valley’s most prominent growers have ratcheted back the sale of their estate-grown production, preferring to keep most, if not all, for themselves. Even at $10,000 per ton (the price we believe David DeSante paid for Fortuna Vineyard fruit in 2013), the arithmetic is self-explanatory.

Here are the numbers: It takes 16 tons of Cabernet Sauvignon to make 1,000 cases. Assuming a selling price of $10,000/ton, that translates to $160 per case in grapes. Conservatively, add another $80/case for winemaking, new French barrels, bottles, corks, and foils, and the total cost of producing a case of Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon is around $240 or $20/bottle.

Now let’s analyze the selling prices of the 2013 Turnbull Cabernet Sauvignon off Fortuna Vineyard and of Turnbull’s neighbors — Dalla Valle, Phelps’ Backus Vineyard and David Ramey’s Pedregal, Rudd Estate, PlumpJack, and, of course, mighty Screaming Eagle. We expect the 2013 Turnbull (99 points from Wine Advocate) to be released for $150/BOTTLE. Dalla Valle will fetch $325. Pedregal will set you back $175. PlumpJack Reserve, if you can find it, with fetch $450. As to Screaming Eagle, how’s $30,000/case sound???

While the Turnbulls kept the lion’s share of their Fortuna Vineyard fruit for themselves in 2013, they did sell off a few tons to two brilliant winemakers, Mark Carter at Carter Cellars and David DeSante. DeSante crafted the Cabernet Sauvignon of his career.

The 2013 Desante Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville Fortuna Vineyard is saturated purple-black in color. Explosive aromas of blackberry, black cherry, black currant, mint, and graphite, braced with new-wood cedar. Rich, dense, tightly wound, and wonderfully sappy on the attack, chewy in texture, the core is packed with crushed black- and red-fruit preserves, a splash of crème de cassis, finishing with a dusty tannin backbone that argues eloquently for 10-20 years of cellar slumber.

$95 on release. $54 this afternoon — and yes, you’re right, given the winemaker, the vineyard, and the vintage, that price makes no sense at all. Shipping included on 3.