2022 Facets by Gemstone Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 750 ml

Facets is the non-estate Cabernet from Gemstone, a small, serious Yountville estate. It's made by Julien Fayard, a winemaker whose name turns up on some of Napa Valley's most collectible labels. He trained in Bordeaux at Château Lafite-Rothschild and Château Smith Haut Lafitte, learned Napa winemaking under Philippe Melka, and crafts wine under his own Purlieu, JF, and Le Pich labels, as well as for estates like Quintessa, Dalla Valle, and Lail.

Facets doesn't come from Gemstone's home vineyard. It comes from Fayard's connections. Years working under Melka and consulting across Napa earned him relationships with growers who don't sell their fruit to just anyone, and that access is what lets a wine of this caliber exist. The grapes are hand-selected, block by block, from vineyards across Yountville and Oak Knoll.

Those two districts sit toward the cooler, southern end of Napa Valley, close enough to catch the evening fog and bay air that funnel up the valley floor. That maritime influence stretches out the growing season, preserves acidity, and keeps a Cabernet's aromatics bright—an advantage that matters most in a warm year, when it separates a fresh, lifted wine from a heavy one.

The 2022 vintage put that to the test. A mild, near-ideal season ran smoothly until an early-September heat spell sent all of Napa racing to pick. The heat concentrated the fruit, and in the hands of a winemaker who has read hot Napa years before, it yielded a Cabernet that is generous and giving, with real depth beneath the fruit.

Fayard's approach is one of restraint—the lesson he carried home from Bordeaux and refined under Melka. Find exceptional fruit, then let it speak, rather than bury it under oak. It's an approach suited to grapes of this quality and to a wine meant to show what its sites can do.

The result is a deep ruby-purple Cabernet of cassis, blackberry, and black plum, lifted by violets, graphite, and crushed sage, with cocoa nib, cedar, espresso, and warm baking spice emerging as it opens. The palate is plush and concentrated, its dark fruit framed by velvety, fine-grained tannins and a streak of fresh acidity that carries a long, polished finish.