2019 Stack House Cabernet Sauvignon Sonoma County 750 ml

The 2019 Stack House Cabernet massively over-delivers for its price.

Then again, it’s hard to think of many Sonoma Cabs that have its Cult Cab pedigree.

Start with Anna and Mario Monticelli, both in-demand winemakers in their own right. Anna rose through the ranks of the Cult Cabernet world, first as the assistant winemaker at Seavey for two years. She then spent five years at Bryant Family, where she made $600 Cabs that sold instantly to a devoted mailing list. Now she’s an in-demand winemaker and consultant. 

Mario worked as the right-hand man for 100-point legend Phillipe Melka in his role as a consultant to Napa Valley stars. Then he struck out on his own for a lauded career—and together, he and Anna own In Vino Felicitas and make their wines, including today’s Stack House Cabernet.

Then, move on to the vineyard sourcing: The majority of the grapes for the 2019 Stack House comes from Alexander Valley, Sonoma’s premier AVA for Cab. Alexander Valley’s been made famous by names like Silver Oak, Aperture, and Jordan, whose rich, textured wines compete with the best of Napa. Add in chunk of fruit from Chalk Hill (pricey in its own right) and then in a dash of Sonoma- and Dry-Creek Valley grapes for complexity and you end up with a wine that vastly outperforms its price.

Once the grapes are harvested and brought into the cellar, Anna and Mario gave these berries the luxe treatment, with carefully managed fermentation leading into a 34-month stay in 60% new French oak. That’s the kind of expensive élevage we’d expect to see on a wine with a triple-digit price tag.