2015 Carte Blanche Proprietary Red Napa Valley 750 ml

Blue-Chip Cabernet-Dominant Napa Red

If you’re among the Wine Access faithful who saw “sold out” on our previous offer of the 100-point Carte Blanche Cabernet, consider this redemption day. As blue-chip Napa estates go, Carte Blanche is at the highest level, up on the top floor with Bryant Family, Colgin, and Opus One. We consider this 2015 Carte Blanche Proprietary Red from Napa Valley the best possible follow-up with 98 points of its own from Jeb Dunnuck, who called this Cabernet Sauvignon-dominant blend a “killer effort,” hailing “sensational notes of currants, blackberry liqueur, graphite, espresso roast and leafy herbs,” in a “full-bodied, ripe, opulent and incredibly concentrated,” wine.

It was crafted by a Food & Wine magazine Winemaker of the Year Helen Keplinger under the auspices of proprietor Nicholas Allen, whose family’s wine business, Domaine Clarence Dillon, owns the revered Bordeaux Châteaux Haut-Brion and La Mission Haut-Brion. With so much pedigree on board, and given the tiny production of 150 cases, we’re lucky to have gotten our hands on any. Much like the 100-point Carte Blanche Cabernet Sauvignon—which sold out in 24 hours—these won't last.

Nicholas Allen could hardly have chosen a more apt name for his Napa Valley winery than Carte Blanche: The term means “complete freedom,” and the decisions that Allen has made at Carte Blanche answer to the questions: What would an ambitious Napa Valley producer do if he could hire any winemaker? Harvest any grapes? Purchase any barrels?  

Allen’s winemaker of choice is Helen Keplinger—one of the few California winemakers to grace the cover of Wine Spectator. Keplinger’s credentials are impeccable: Not only does she have her own lauded label of California reds, she currently makes wine for Grace Family Vineyards and previously worked for cult Cabernet icon Bryant Family for two years, and alongside Cabernet luminaries Heidi Peterson Barrett, David Abreu, and Michel Rolland.

Carte Blanche has applied Keplinger’s talent to raw materials that are also second-to-none. The 2015 Proprietary Red is composed of 59.5% Cabernet Sauvignon grown in the stony loam soils of Andy Beckstoffer’s Missouri Hopper Vineyard in Oakville; 18% Merlot comes from Beckstoffer Orchard Vineyard in Napa, while 18% Cabernet Franc and 4% Petit Verdot come from Sage Canyon Vineyard and Ballard Vineyard respectively. A sliver of Malbec from Blau Vineyard rounds out the blend from this heavyweight vineyard lineup, which was set to rest for 22 months in 100% French oak barrels, hand-crafted by the peerless artisans at Darnajou and Taransaud.

The result from such noteworthy ingredients could only be spectacular, and it is. The 2015 Carte Blanche Proprietary Red is brimming with lush, ripe, dark fruit, etched with sophisticated graphite, tobacco, and espresso complexity. An expansive frame of fine-grained tannins tethers this extravagant effort together, which lingers for miles on finish. Secure your share before the dreaded words “sold out” appear.