2018 Vine Hill Ranch (VHR) Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville 750 ml

The 2018 Vine Hill Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon is just about as good as Napa Valley gets. Boasting 98 points from Vinous—which said it “captivates all the senses with its sensual personality—it’s a stirring, age-worthy masterpiece sourced grown on an iconic site and crafted by reigning San Francisco Chronicle Winemaker of the Year Françoise Peschon. 

Vine Hill Ranch stands with To Kalon, Eisele, and Dr. Crane as one of the defining Cabernet Sauvignon sites of Napa Valley. It was founded by Marin County rancher Bruce Kelham, who in 1959 purchased over 1,000 acres on the varied terrain where the Mayacamas Mountains meet the valley floor. 

In 1978, Bruce’s daughter Alexandra and her husband Bob Phillips took over. They worked with UC Davis and famed vintner Tony Soter, researching the terroir and dividing the property into seven unique vineyard blocks. They then subdivided those blocks and chose their clones, rootstock, and planting density based on what would thrive on each plot. 

This replanting coincided with a movement toward site-specific wines in Napa, and Vine Hill Ranch became a prized site, supplying grapes to icons like Araujo, Cakebread (which makes a vineyard-designate bottling), Lail, Robert Mondavi, and other Cabernet icons. Just over a decade ago, Vine Hill Ranch produced their own wine for the first time. And with winemaking duties in the hands of Peschon, who trained at Château Haut-Brion and was the longtime winemaker at Araujo, the results have been spectacular.