2013 Hertelendy Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 750 ml

Here’s your chance to grab an exclusive bottle (or six) of a prime 2013 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. The mid-2010s saw some awesome vintages for Cabernet Sauvignon in Napa, but most of the bottles of the powerful vintage were quickly snapped up upon the initial release. Rarely do you see a 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon still available on the market. 

Until now.

Hertelendy, one of our favorite producers in Napa, just released this back vintage 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley for Wine Access members—at a steep discount. It’s the perfect example of what this talented winemaking team of Phil Titus and Ralph Hertelendy can do: a complex wine, layered with dark cherry, plum, and pipe tobacco on the palate, that still has years to age in the cellar. 

We’ve been smitten with this producer since discovering the 2014 on the wine list at The French Laundry, and had heard bubblings of Ralph Hertelendy’s mastery as this 2013 got a 95-point stamp of approval from Wine Advocate, with Parker calling it a “surprise sleeper.” 

Hertelendy comes from a long heritage of winemaking in Europe, and has continued that family tradition in Napa Valley. His namesake winery includes a mountainside vineyard just on the border with Howell Mountain, and he sources fruit from other acclaimed Valley neighborhoods like Oakville, Atlas Peak, and Pritchard Hill. Possibly his biggest secret weapon, though, is his collaboration with winemaking consultant Phillip Corallo-Titus, who seems to acquire 100-point ratings the way the rest of us collect corks. The two have been working together since Hertelendy launched his label. 

The 2013 is a blend of 79% Cabernet Sauvignon with Petit Verdot, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Malbec that sees 22 months in 90% new French oak. The mountainside fruit brings finesse to an otherwise powerful wine that’s full of dark fruit flavors, velvety tannins, and a luxuriously long finish. It’s a quintessential example of prime Napa Valley winemaking that’s set to drink now, thanks to a few years on the bottle, but will thrive in the cellar for another decade. 

This perfectly cellared 95-point Cabernet won’t last long. Hertelendy only produced 533 cases of this wine, and he is re-releasing the 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon to Wine Access members because of how wild they went for the 2014. Act quickly before this deal is gone.