2014 Patria Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville 750 ml

Among the Pantheon of Oakville Cabernet Greats

In only its second vintage, Tony Biagi’s “deep, pure, and nicely-layered” 2014 Patria Cabernet from coveted Oakville terroir in Napa Valley already has fans in high places: 94 points from Vinous, 93 from Robert Parker, and a coveted spot on 3-Michelin star The French Laundry’s wine list. From the ground to the glass, this Cabernet has pedigree all over it. Sourced from the Oakville Ranch, a stone’s throw from Napa’s hallowed Pritchard Hill and rooted in the same red volcanic soils that yield grapes that go into Ovid, Bryant Family, Continuum, and Colgin. Biagi is currently producing Hourglass and Amici, and his impressive C.V. includes founding winemaker for CADE while also overseeing PlumpJack’s intense Cabernets, a stint at Duckhorn and founder of Sinegal. Crafted from fruit he’s had his eye on for decades, Patria is what Biagi has been working toward: a “bold, powerful and super-expressive” Cabernet, according to Galloni. This 2014 Cabernet should cost $200-300. At a rare two-digit $90 per bottle, our tiny allocation from Napa’s stellar 2014 vintage won’t last long.  

“Just as every chef wants his own kitchen, every winemaker wants to make his own wine,” Biagi told Wine Access. But as he made wine for some of the top names in Napa, the fruit that Biagi coveted for his own project was tied up in long-term contracts. For years. So he waited patiently until 2013, and when the opportunity to purchase fruit from the 9-acre “Robert’s Block” at Oakville Ranch materialized, he jumped on it.

Oakville Ranch is “farmed to perfection, and one of the last undiscovered Grand Cru pieces of property in California,” according to Biagi. First alerted to the vineyard by his early employer Dan Duckhorn and his “great nose for dirt,” the fifth-generation Californian has no doubt that his hand-picked source for the 94-point Patria belongs in the Napa pantheon, alongside vineyards whose stratospherically priced grapes translate to bottle prices well north of $200.