2016 Band of Vintners Consortium Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 750 ml

Meet the wine band that is changing the rules on Napa Valley Cabernet. We’ve been saying it, even before band leader and 100-point Parker winemaker Dan Petroski was named 2017 SF Chronicle Winemaker of the Year AND before Decanter listed the band among its top “new faces” of Napa! Led by Petroski (Massican and Larkmead), Stéphane Vivier (Hyde de Villaine), and Master Sommelier Jason Heller (Harlan and Dana Estates alum), this “band” has once again crafted an absurdly over-delivering Napa Valley Cab in a vintage that had Vinous’ Antonio Galloni gushing of the “dazzling aromatic presence, finesse and nuance” of the reds from that harvest. 

Decanter’s September issue blew the lid off the Band’s big secret: “Naturally they won’t reveal their sources, but the 2016 is from three vineyards in St. Helena, Howell Mountain and Calistoga, whose wines sell for much, much more.” Factor in all this and the 2016 Consortium, aged in French oak for 15 months, delivers tons and tons of black fruit, mixed with complex mocha, cedar, and vanilla spice. Simply put, Napa Cab of this quality, and from this group, CLEARLY should cost more than its quite modest $35 price tag. 

Petroski and his accomplished friends founded a winemaking project on the noble goals of high quality and good value—and have delivered the goods in spectacular fashion. It should not be much of a surprise that Band of Vintners stands apart, as the group is stocked with seasoned pros who are well-versed in every step required to take standout Cabernet from the gravel to the glass: On the winemaking end, there’s little they can’t source. On the business end, there’s little they can’t streamline. 

Consortium is the result. With Petroski at the vanguard, the group is just hitting its stride, and a project that started out as an insider secret just a few years ago is fast gaining notoriety: 2015 was a breakout bottling for the Band, and building momentum is evident in the September 2018 issue of Decanter, which dedicated a full page to singing the Band’s praises. Decanter called the Consortium a “fresh, cassis-scented, luscious” wine, and “the opposite of those ($200-per-bottle) ego projects” that are constantly popping up in Napa Valley. In other words, the Band of Vintners does, at under $40, what many hyped-up producers fail to do with their $200 bottlings. 

We expect the many Wine Access clients who jumped all over our first offer of Band of Vintners to be hitting the buy button straight from the subject line. For those who have not yet experienced the fruits of these seven formidable wine professionals—who are even more decorated than they were a year ago—2016 is a great place to start