2015 Larkmead Vineyards LMV Salon Proprietary Red Napa Valley 750 ml

Napa Valley collectors can break the bank trying to secure absolute first-class quality for the cellar. The 98-point 2015 Larkmead Vineyards LMV Salon Proprietary Red brings the rare kind of power and elegance that collectors chase, yet comes at a fraction of the price of its brethren. Even better, Wine Access members at an incredible price, just $150 per bottle.

With a Wine Enthusiast score that left marquee $200+ Cabernets and Bordeaux-style reds from Alpha Omega and The Debate looking up, this is a collector’s item that outclasses its peers. It’s got pure Left Bank-style class on the palate, with ultrafine grippy tannins lending a textural depth to bold blackberry and blueberry flavors, which blend seamlessly into graphite notes on the finish. 

From San Francisco Chronicle Winemaker of the Year Dan Petroski, the 2015 LMV Salon is a truly brilliant balance of high-energy ripe fruit, packed in a sturdy frame that will last for decades.

Larkmead is situated in a unique spot in the narrow northern part of Napa Valley, where the two mountain ranges that form the Valley—the westerly Mayacamas and the Vaca Range to the east—sit only a mile and a half apart. Over millennia, the alluvial effects have carried finer soils down the valley and left Larkmead with a layer of gravel more than 300 feet deep. 

While the gravel is essential to the Cabernet Sauvignon that makes up nearly 3/4 of Larkmead’s plantings, the parcels that produce the 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Cabernet Franc in this blend are located between the Napa River and Selby Creek, two waterways that have created wonderful sandy soil with the kind of washed stone and pebbles you’d find in Bordeaux. “The sand really gives that down-valley, Rutherford-Oakville character—and a beautiful texture,” Dan explained, about the effect of the soil on the wine. The LMV is one of just two Larkmead wines grown in this type of soil, and Dan calls it a textural “dead-ringer” for the other: their tiny-production The Lark bottling. 

That texture is thanks to the sandy-soil tannins, and their counterintuitive nature. “Gravel creates the sensation of big tannins, but actually the tannin count is low,” he told us. “With the sand we create bigger tannins, but they’re finer and more refined, and feel more supple. “ He likens sand’s tight, silky tannins to high-thread-count sheets, and after 18 months in 75% new Darnajou barrels, the result is a wine that boasts a texture that sings, but is ready to go years of life in the cellar.

Dan was also quick to point out that LMV is one of the only Larkmead wines made from younger vines. “The grapes that go into that wine are exceptional. We’re talking about a total of six acres in a 100-acre vineyard, at the top of the pyramid. It’s rare that vines perform so well so early,” he said. Most Larkmead vines reach ten years of age before qualifying for a Larkmead bottling. But not the grapes in LMV. “These vines are LeBron James,” Dan said with a smile. “All-stars, just a year out of high school.” 

Considering that LMV is at the very top—not merely among—the best of the bunch, we might have to quibble with Dan’s analogy. The LMV is not merely an all-star. This is Napa Valley’s 2015 MVP.