2018 Marston Family Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Spring Mountain District Napa Valley 750 ml

The Marston Family Vineyard’s 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon’s gorgeous texture and floral perfume immediately caught our attention when we tasted it this week. Grown in one of the most flawless Napa Valley vintages this century, the wine epitomizes the brushy, earthy terroir of Spring Mountain: Bay leaf, wild mint, and forest floor notes gradually reveal themselves as the wine opens up in the glass, carrying crushed raspberry aromas as fluttering top-notes. We were transfixed from the first sip.

This is a connoisseur’s Cabernet—one that Jeb Dunnuck called “hard to resist” and Decanter praised for its “dynamic and vibrant” palate in their 95-point review—and we wish we could share it with everyone. But it’s a serious rarity. Marston only produced 462 cases, and most of those will go directly to their mailing list and to Napa Valley restaurants.

Marston’s first release was crafted by Philippe Melka. Today, Marbue Marke, who comes from a family of physicians in the West African nation of Sierra Leone, is at the helm. Trained in enology at UC Davis, he’s now spent a decade at Marston. Marke knows the vineyard much more intimately than his predecessors, and each year he strives to improve the wines even more—the mark of a truly great winemaker.

If you’re serious about Napa Valley Cabernet—especially exquisite, powerful mountain-grown versions that you will never find on the shelf at your local shop—this is the one to get.