2020 Halpin Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 750 ml

We’ve heard Halpin wax poetic about a 1988 Chateau Montelena Cabernet and unleash verbal fireworks over a 1990 Jacky Truchot Clos de la Roche. But when he accompanied us to the blue-chip Napa vineyard that produced this blockbuster Cabernet, our loquacious connoisseur friend was reduced to awed silence.

This estate—located along Silverado Trail—carries that kind of weight. We can’t even tell you the name of the sub-appellation it resides in: The place is so well-known and widely written about that simply mentioning the AVA would give it away. And we’re not about to risk it, because the winemaker was clear: The only reason we were on the inside was because of a family-friend connection.

Boisterous and brawling, this huge, ripe Cabernet thunders from the glass with rich grandiosity and new French oak perfume.

“I knew everyone else in the industry would paint 2020 with a broad brush,” Halpin said. “That meant, if you knew the right places to look and the right people to call, there were jewels on the table that would be closed off in nearly every other vintage.” 

After hours of intel-gathering and off-the-record conversations, he learned that one of the Valley’s iconic estates had not only gotten the better of the vintage, but had a couple barrels of Cabernet up for grabs—which NEVER happens. 

He tracked down a cousin (or was it a son-in-law?) with connections to the estate and quickly turned six degrees of separation into two. The result: one of the best deals of the vintage, and one that evoked a RARE flash of humility from Halpin: “I honestly still can’t believe it worked!” he admitted.