2018 Tesseron Estate Pym-Rae Mount Veeder Napa Valley 750 ml

Think of Harlan Estate. Think of Bond and Hundred Acre. Think of the few Napa Valley red wines that, guided by ambitious vintners and sourced from singular terroirs, have become undisputed California classics and worldwide cellar must-haves. 

Today’s 2018 Pym-Rae Mount Veeder Napa Valley is sure to claim a place in that Cabernet pantheon. It’s the synthesis of the pedigree of Château Pontet-Canet proprietor Alfred Tesseron and an inimitable Napa mountain vineyard, and the result is stunning.

Jeb Dunnuck called the 2018 “stunningly majestic, flawlessly balanced Mountain Cabernet,” laying on a 99-point score that matched California icons like MacDonald ($970) and Schrader Beckstoffer To Kalon RBS ($418). 

Pym-Rae comes from steep hillsides composed of sedimentary limestone, which contribute a depth and freshness that make it fit for a cellar life alongside your Bordeaux First Growths and benchmark Napa Cabernets. Crafted by Thomas Comme—son of Pontet-Canet’s Jean-Michel Comme—and the legendary consultant Michel Rolland, it’s boundlessly aromatic, with intricate notes of blackberries, fresh blueberries, and cassis, supported by iron ore, graphite, lavender, dried lilacs, and menthol. The full palate is a balancing act between the lush black fruit and forceful, minerally core. 

The Pym-Rae vineyard is remote and rugged, and the vines planted on its steep hillsides back in 1990 put forth miniscule yields of exquisitely concentrated fruit. Just like at Pontet-Canet, the vineyard is biodynamic and dry-farmed. In addition, the vines are untrimmed, and cows roam throughout—a key part of treating the vineyard ecosystem as a vital whole. Comme and Rolland ferment the wine in custom-made vats that facilitate manual punchdowns, allowing for the careful extraction of the wine’s muscular, ripe-fruit flavors and refined tannins.