2019 Matt Morris Heritage Red Blend Napa Valley 750 ml

Every single member of our wine team LOVES the 2019 Matt Morris Heritage Red. It’s grown on peerless vineyard sites. It’s made in a tiny quantity—just 120 cases—by 2019 SF Chronicle Winemaker of the Year Françoise Peschon, the genius behind Vine Hill Ranch’s revered wines. And it boasts 95 points from Jeb Dunnuck, a score shared by Cabernets like Bevan, Purlieu, Turnbull…the list goes on. 

What Howard Backen is to Napa Valley winery architecture and David Abreu is to viticulture, our friend Matt Morris is to Napa Valley photography, which has given him connections to some of the greatest growers and winemakers in the Valley. It’s apparent in the pedigree of his wines: His first winemaker was Realm’s Benoit Touquette. Now it’s Peschon.  

Matt’s Heritage Red consists of Charbono—a rich, structured grape that once proliferated in Napa Valley—from Calistoga’s Tofanelli Vineyard. It’s accented by $25K-per-ton (really) Malbec from one of Napa’s most famous growers, plus Petite Sirah grown in—get ready for this—Peschon’s front-freaking-yard.

When we last spoke to Matt, he told us how his friend, a somm at The French Laundry, sells the Heritage Red. See, TFL is where couples who regularly buy $150 Cabernets to drink at home get confronted with a $700 dinner bill—plus that $150 Cab is now $600 on the list! Struck by the sudden urge to economize, they ask the somm for a Napa Cab under $200.

Here’s what he asks them: “Is the most important thing that it’s Cabernet, or is it that you get the best wine for your money?” Invariably, they choose the latter. He gives them a Matt Morris Charbono. Invariably, they are thrilled. 

We know you’ll feel the same way.