2016 Robert Keenan Winery Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve Spring Mountain Napa Valley 750 ml

When given the choice to buy a 96-point Cabernet from one of the best producers on Napa Valley’s Spring Mountain at a price that can’t be beat anywhere, the decision is simple. 

This classic is no stranger to our members, who have loved it year after year, nor to the critics: Of Keenan’s 2016, their 40th vintage, Vinous founder Antonio Galloni said, “This is a fabulous showing from Robert Keenan” that promises to impress even more with its "dense, unctuous fruit and terrific freshness," and alluring "sense of proportion.” 

This is a wine that has both tension and power. Brains and brawn.

Back in 1977, when Keenan Winery produced their first vintage, Stanford-educated Robert Keenan was an insurance guy turned winemaker overnight. This was a time when Napa was coming into its own and recognizing the greatness that is Cabernet Sauvignon, but unlike so many others who were setting up shop down in the valley, Keenan sought loftier options on the slopes of Spring Mountain.

And so, it's here, high above the fog line at between 1,700 and 1,900 feet of elevation, emerging from a deeply wooded stretch of a quiet winding road, that you’ll find Robert Keenan Winery. It is the kind of warm, homey place you have to tear yourself away from—complete with marvelous views of stunning estate vines.

Spring Mountain experiences the coldest and wettest weather in Napa Valley. The grapes struggle with the rocky, infertile hillsides that incite just enough stress to produce compelling reds. The 2016 vintage was nearly flawless, enjoying ample water reserves from the winter, consistently warm and dry weather through the growing season, no major heat spikes through summer, and the kind of harvest where winemakers could pick when the timing was ideal.

The 2016 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon saw 31% each of clones 337, 7, and 412, as well as 7% Cabernet Franc. The seductive alpine fruit—brooding blackberries laced with bright pomegranate—sets these wines apart from others in Napa. Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate notes that it has "chewy tannins" while still being "vibrant" on the tongue. Spring Mountain's distinctive powdery tannins and woodsy balsam spice will lure you back to the rim. It's sophisticated and reserved, yet giving and indulgent. It's the perfect paradox. 

Don't pass up a wine that Galloni purports to be a "classically built medium-bodied wine of the style that are seldom found in Napa Valley today."