2016 Grgich Hills Cabernet Sauvignon Estate Grown Napa Valley 750 ml

From a historic estate enshrined in Napa Valley legend AND one of the greatest vintages of all time, the 2016 Grgich Hills Estate Cabernet Sauvignon captures the thrill of Napa’s halcyon days.  

This Cabernet unfolds like a timeless Napa classic, the rare icon that manages to deliver a chart-topping performance without a record-breaking price. In fact, our close relationship with Grgich Hills scored us our greatest price ever on this legendary bottle. Sporting a $72 price tag, last year we were able to offer it for $60. This year, we’ve got it for $57!

The 2016 bursts with density and concentration courtesy of the spectacular vintage. The nose is beautifully layered, with mulberry and cherry accented by violets. On the palate, flavors of dark plum and herbs are carried by a graphite-driven structure that has the finesse of a Mozart concerto, and crescendoes with a long and lively finish. A Cabernet legend that will have you reveling in Napa Valley’s greatest days, at a throwback price!

Croatian immigrant Mike Grgich stepped into Napa Valley mythos in 1976 when he bested Domaine Leflaive, Joseph Drouhin, and other famous Burgundy producers at the Judgment of Paris, winning the prize of greatest white wine in the world. It was, in fact, an even more unlikely story than it seemed on its face. Born to a family of winemakers, Grgich had been told by a professor that a kind of vine-growing paradise existed far away on the west coast of America. Fleeing communism, he made it to California in 1958 with a single suitcase, and $32 sewn into his shoe.

A priceless viticultural education followed as he worked his way up through pioneering estates like Souverain Winery, Beaulieu Vineyard, and Mondavi, where he honed his Cabernet-making skills. He spent years absorbing lessons from Russian-born visionary André Tchelistcheff, and it was during Grgich’s time as winemaker at Chateau Montelena that his unexpected victory over the aristocratic vignerons of France changed his life forever.

A nonagenarian today, Grgich has passed control of the estate to his daughter Violet and winemaker Ivo Jeramaz. Achieving a freshness and energy born of organically farmed grapes and indigenous yeasts, the 2016 Cabernet is a classic expression of Napa, framed by tradition and Grgich’s trademark elegance. 

This Cabernet Sauvignon hails primarily from Grgich’s Yountville vineyard, and is rounded out with grapes from the estate’s Rutherford and Calistoga properties. Twenty-one months in 60% new French oak gave this Cab a remarkable polish and finesse, and a bouquet tinged with warm baking spices. Now, four years after one of the most glorious vintages ever in Napa Valley, this bottle is absolutely singing. 

Mike’s own Grgich Hills winery has, for four decades, been producing the kind of Cabernet Sauvignon that lives up to the expectations he set with his Judgment of Paris win in 1976. The 2016 Grgich Hills Estate Grown Cabernet Sauvignon is proof.