2016 Halpin Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 750 ml

Halpin calls it “home-field advantage.” Winemaker Ry Richards calls it “luck.” We just call it the greatest bargain ever on Halpin: a stunning $25 for his 2016 Napa Valley Cabernet, a wine with triple-digit pedigree. 

The short story is that, in Robert Parker’s 98-point vintage, Halpin and his winemaker Ry Richards tapped an incredible source that’s usually earmarked for $100 bottles. Now here’s the rest:  

Last week, Halpin and Richards dropped by Wine Access HQ to present a few wines, and it turned into comedy hour in short order. Richards, ever the serious winemaker at first, popped the cork on a 2016, filled our glasses, and grabbed the #2 pencil behind his ear. As he spoke, he sketched the air. “The main vineyard source is a west-facing, well-drained slope on the Vaca mountains just off Silverado Trail in the Stags Leap District planted to Clone C,” he explained, “which first came from Larry Hyde’s vineyard, and is best known as the Backus Clone at Phelps. No wine comes off this property for less than $60 a bottle.”

“The second source is a low-yielding site on well-drained clay loam in the heart of St. Helena. It’s a tiny site favored by top Cabernet producers as a blending component for their $100+ bottles because it brings a firm tannic backbone and lushness of fruit to the final blend."

“You’re not gonna find this level of quality in any $25 Cabernets because no winemaker is crazy enough to sell their $100-a-bottle-grapes for what Halpin negotiated. He calls it his ‘home-field advantage.’ But I just call it luck.”

Halpin shot back at Richards. “Was it luck that in the last World Series each game was won by the visiting team, canceling out that ‘home-field advantage?’” His baseball analogy fell on deaf ears. He tried to explain. “I don’t live full-time in Napa, right?”.

“Good thing!” quipped Richards. 

“For you maybe,” returned Halpin. “When a bell rings in Napa, what happens?” 

“Someone gets a hundred points and an angel gets his wings?” cracked Richards.

“Close—more like the angel’s share goes to the bank,” Halpin explained. Many cash-strapped winemakers (still in the red after 2015’s low yields) had extra grapes they couldn’t afford to vinify in 2016. The top-quality bumper crop in 2016 gave them the chance to sell off the extra grapes and pay off debt. “So who among you doesn’t like a $25 wine that oughta cost $60?”

“So you’re Napa’s bell boy?” we taunted. 

“Wanna find out how the Liberty Bell really cracked?” Halpin countered. “Taste the wine, wiseguys!” 

In the glass, the 2016 Halpin Napa Cab is ruby-black with crimson reflections. The aromas offer a heady blast of red and blue fruits, black cherry, cassis, muddled violets, fine French cedar, and underbrush. Palate-coating with the kind of silty, grippy tannins that call to mind the texture of a current-release Georges de Latour or Beringer Private Reserve, filling the mouth with rich boysenberry, red currants, candied black cherry, mocha, spices, and a kind of blood-orange citrus that makes it utterly refreshing sip after sip. A powerful Cabernet, with a tight-knit structure—not over-extracted, just fresh, balanced, and impressive. It would open up to more lush dark-berry fruit flavors and aromas after just 15 minutes in the glass.

“Winemakers like to talk about being passionate enthusiasts,” opined Halpin, “but they’re really passionate about one thing: the bottom line.”

“That reminds me, we need to up my fee. It’s a new year!” Richards prodded Halpin. 

“Sure thing, Ry, but we’ll have to talk about it back East,” said a grinning Halpin. 

“Why East?” asked Ry, falling into the trap. 

“Home-field advantage!” Halpin exclaimed, then for dramatic effect, added: “Yeerrrrrr out!”

Talk about a couple of peas in a pod. On a slightly more serious note, we’ll say what they both won’t admit. Thanks to Halpin, Ry Richards is working with fruit even he never dreamed of getting his hands on. But thanks to Richards’ deft winemaking (he’s picked up a few tricks working on Pritchard Hill for an iconic Napa Cabernet house), bottles bearing Halpin’s name are top values, and incredibly well-made. 

As always, after a tasting with Halpin, we brush off the sarcasm and are reminded of just what our friendship means for the Wine Access faithful: the chance to acquire wine, like this 2016 Halpin Napa Cabernet, that is much more than the sum of its parts.