2018 Technique Proprietary Red Wine Stags Leap District Napa Valley 750 ml

There was red Stags Leap soil caked on winemaker Trevor Sheehan’s boots when we met him for dinner at Angèle in Napa a few months ago. In each hand he was carrying a bottle of wine. As we sat down at a patio table overlooking the Napa River we had a feeling we were in for something special, but we couldn’t imagine it would take the shape of a value red that drank like a Stags Leap heavyweight. 

Maybe we shouldn’t have been surprised. Sheehan got his start over a decade ago making finely delineated bottles of Beckstoffer Chardonnay and sumptuous Howell Mountain Cabernet. He’s never sourced grapes from less than the absolute best. 

Wine Access’ own Eduardo Dingler bought that fortuitous Chardonnay from Sheehan back in his sommelier days, and the resulting friendship yielded what can only be described today as Napa's top bargain. Grown right next door to Kapscándy—$200 bottle territory—the 2018 Technique Proprietary Red is pure dark fruit, spice, and generosity. We locked in every remaining bottle for Wine Access members. 

At Angèle, Sheehan, clad in a quarter-zip and jeans, insisted on everyone ordering hamburgers, “preferably medium-rare.” We went along for the ride. By now we are used to our buddy’s idiosyncratic and meticulous nature—traits we recognize in most of our favorite winemakers—and knew it could only mean that a perfect pairing awaited us. 

Uncorking the first bottle, Sheehan poured four ounces of deep ruby into our glasses. All we could think to say was “STAGS LEAP.” 

“Yep,” Sheehan, smiled. 

“You might as well pop the second bottle,” we added. 

With every swirl, purple flowers lept from the glass with waves of blackberry preserves, dark cherry, cassis, and boysenberry following closely behind. Like “an iron fist in a velvet glove,” as the legendary Warren Winiarski once described the wines of Stags Leap District, the 2018 Technique is at once plush and fine-grained, while broad, bold, intensely concentrated. Layers of dark chocolate, roasted espresso bean, clove, and brown spice make more intriguing what was already great. 

“How did you manage this?” we asked our friend. 

“An NDA.” 

We promised not to ask too much, but Sheehan did share a few details. The 2018 Technique Proprietary Red is a seamless blend of 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot, 10% Petit Verdot, and 10% Malbec aged for 14 months in French oak. It comes from two incredible sources, one of which borders 100-point estates Kapcsándy and is a 50-yard dash from Cliff Lede; the other, well, suffice it to say it is a grower that has produced some very high-scoring bottles. 

“Before things changed, I had restaurants champing at the bit to pour this by the glass,” Sheehan told us. 

“How much do you have left?” we asked, trying to play it cool. 

“50 cases.”

“Sold.”