2014 The Mascot Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 750 ml

Will Harlan and his family produce some of the most coveted and collectible cabernets in the world. And what makes those showpiece Cabernets magical—we’re talking about the iconic BOND, Harlan Estate, and Promontory wines—is not groundbreaking winery technology. It’s not a proprietary blend, or cutting edge technique. 

It’s incomparable terroir, pure and simple—that’s been the foundation of the Harlan family’s winegrowing endeavors since 1984, and it’s the foundation of The Mascot 2014. Deep and captivating, The Mascot is the only wine in the world that can claim to be made by the teams, and sourced from the young vines, of Napa Valley Grands Crus BOND, Harlan Estate, and Promontory—and the excellence shows. 

The buzz, of course, has followed: The Mascot fetched the highest barrel price at the 2017 Auction Napa Valley, a stunning $73,550. Considering that kind of demand, we’re honored to have a few cases for Wine Access members, with perfect provenance coming straight from the cellar, where they’ve been resting since the “dream vintage” of 2014.

Now softened by a few years of bottle age, The Mascot still shows lively youthfulness in its ruby core. Dark red and black fruits are accented with red and purple roses and spice. A bold, generous, and textured mouthfeel is driven by graphite, with beautiful tension, a towering and elegant structure, and long finish. 

Starting more than a decade ago, Will Harlan “borrowed" several barrels of Cabernet yielded from the younger vines at his family’s incomparable estates. With them he blended a wine to share with his friends, packaging some of the most precious Cabernet that springs from Napa Valley soils in nondescript unlabeled bottles. Finally, in 2008, he produced enough wine to eke its way outside of the inner circle. The Mascot was born.

Volumes have been written about the terroirs that make the Harlan family endeavors so special, and since The Mascot includes all of the vineyards, there’s hardly room to describe them all in their glorious detail. First, of course, is Harlan Estate, situated in the hillsides of western Oakville. The vines sit on rocky slopes—from about a foot to just a few inches of soil—atop a unique geologic mix of fractured bedrock and ancient sandstone. It’s a terroir whose unparalleled quality can’t be denied—although it might never be fully understood. 

BOND consists of five small (7-11-acre) and unique vineyard sites: the rocky Melbury vineyard, overlooking Lake Hennessey; Quella, in the volcanic ash of eastern Napa Valley; St. Eden, situated on the Oakville Crossroad, in the red rocky soils that tumbled a million years ago from Pritchard Hill; Vecina, with its 11 terraced acres in the Oakville foothills; and Pluribus, perched 1,000 feet high on Spring Mountain. With BOND, these terroirs are showcased separately; in The Mascot these five stellar sites are woven together. 

Finally, Promontory is the endeavor taken on by the second generation of the family and winegrowing team, led by Will Harlan. An untamed piece of land forgotten in time and hidden within the heart of Napa Valley, Promontory consists of a convergence of volcanic, sedimentary, and metamorphic soils spread over 500 feet of elevation. 

A sip of cabernet expressing any one of these sites can rightly be described as the wine experience of a lifetime—one for which collectors gladly pay three and four digits. The Mascot is the only way to taste a youthful expression of all of these Napa Valley terroirs in one bottle.

The experience is priceless. The Mascot is surprisingly reasonable. We’ve only got a few cases.