2016 Off the Cuff Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 750 ml

Business negotiators must react on the fly to a new offer made at the bargaining table with millions of dollars in the balance. Soldiers are trained to make split-second decisions in the heat of battle. And on occasion, even a winemaker gets a call that’s a game-changer, and is forced to make an off-the-cuff decision that can define a vintage and cement—or wreck—a career.

One such call was behind today’s lavish, open-knit Cabernet Sauvignon, crafted from some of the finest, most sumptuous grapes in Rutherford. Tannins that coat the mouth like silk, giving way to a pillowy palate of raspberry, and blackberry, sprinkled with cocoa and oak—it’s why this Napa sub-appellation is coveted by every Cab collector, and why it’s devilishly hard to crack the top vineyards without the right connections. 

When fate gave this winemaker an inch, he took a mile and crafted a wine that’s as fresh, pure, and polished an expression of the 2016 vintage as we’ve tasted. It should cost $150. Thanks to some serendipitous sourcing, we have it at a fraction of that. 

The guy behind this debut release is one of our top under-40 winemakers in Napa, a soil-whisperer in the vein of Stéphane Derenoncourt or Philippe Melka. He has a geologist’s knowledge and an artist’s touch with everything from mountain volcanic rock to silty sandy loam. Through connections to top estates, he’s handled some of the most exquisite blue-chip Cabernet fruit around, including from Beckstoffer and Pritchard Hill. But one Rutherford plot had remained tantalizingly out of reach—a White Whale he could somehow never lay a finger on. 

“On the rare occasion I could afford some of their fruit, they didn’t have any,” he told us, pulling closed his pile-lined trucker jacket on a cool September night as we sat around a smoldering fire pit in his backyard. “And on the rare occasion they had spare fruit, I couldn’t afford it.”

For a soil nerd like him, this plot epitomized the famous Rutherford dust quality. In the heart of Napa, the vines’ roots were sunk deep into well-draining loam interspersed with gravel. A sun-soaked microclimate led to drawn-out hang time, and this bottle’s seductively fine, almost powdery tannins, evoking the appellation’s famous tasting note. Run by a single family since the early 60s, the owners have always been selective with who they sold to. And they were never, ever short on demand. 

When the 2016 vintage rolled around, our friend made it known, once again, that if any fruit should become available—even a half-ton—he would gladly take it off their hands. It was made known to him that the chances of that happening were next to none.

He took them at their word and booked up tanks, filled out contracts, planned his season, spent his capital. One night as he was heading out the door to meet his girlfriend for dinner, his phone rang. It was the Rutherford vineyard.

“We have a little more than a half-ton of fruit left over. Yield was slightly higher and the client it was for couldn’t take any extra. Do you want it? If it’s a yes, come get it right now. If no, I’m hanging up and we’ve got a buyer on the other line. But we decided to give you first shot.”

“My brain was screaming ‘NO,’” he told us. He had no tank space, no time, and most importantly, no money—buying would mean maxing out his credit card. But his gut said yes; he’d be over with his pickup truck in a half hour.

“I didn’t have anyone lined up to buy the wine. I’d have to do everything myself. There was a better than not chance that this was going to blow up in my face and I’d have to go find a job in someone’s tasting room. But I didn’t get into this business to make okay wine. I decided to go for broke—literally.”

Word got around that our young friend was crafting something special off a Rutherford vineyard that had a special place in our own hearts. On that crisp September night, he invited us over to taste and hear the wine’s story. Still nervous about making sure he found a buyer, he’d offer us a special rate, but we’d have to buy every bottle he had on the spot. For us, as for him, it was an off-the-cuff call we didn’t think twice about. This wine is all elegance, prettiness, and pure drinkability—everything we love about 2016’s Napa class.