2014 Robert Keenan Winery Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Spring Mountain 750 ml

The Epitome of Mountain Cabernet Excellence

The 2014 Keenan Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon off Napa’s Spring Mountain represents the epitome of mountain Cabernet excellence—if you already enjoyed a bottle (or more) and wish to replenish your stash, here is your chance. “The deepest, richest wine of the entire portfolio, with an opaque purple color and super-pure nose of crème de cassis and blueberries,” says Robert M Parker Jr., pouring 95 points on one of his favorite Spring Mountain Napa Valley Cabernets and cementing the must-buy status of this intoxicating release. Keenan’s limited-production jewel sells for $104 from the winery.

As the dust has begun to settle on the critical assessment of the three most famous consecutive vintages in Napa Valley history—2012, 2013, and 2014—the unique qualities of each have come into sharper view. If the 2013s were all about flashy opulence and the 2012s open-knit and full of fruit, the 2014s are a study in focus and extraordinary balance. For Michael Keenan, who has always striven to present both sides of Cabernet’s soul in his wines, harmonizing mountain-berry extravagance with sturdy, savory tannins, 2014 allowed his vision to reach incredible new heights.

Up on 3660 Spring Mountain Road, the Keenan winery experiences the coolest and wettest weather of Napa Valley. In the Spring Mountain AVA, June and July afternoons are cool, tempered by a soupy fog that washes over the western ridge and down through the canyons. In the evening, as chilly air settles over the valley floor, warm air is lifted up into the mountains. The unique synthesis of cooler days and warmer nights allows Bordeaux varieties to ripen more gradually and incrementally than elsewhere, often pushing back the call to harvest into mid-October.

As Spring Mountain tends to get up to a foot more rain than the valley below, we find it’s in the warm, dry years that Keenan shines brightest. James Suckling declared “Napa Valley’s 2014 vintage is one of its best years in the last two decades,” with a mild winter and consistent bright sunshine through the summer months. As a result, Keenan’s high-elevation Spring Mountain vineyards delivered one of the most fabulous Cabernets ever to come off these steep slopes.