2022 La Pelle Wines Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 750 ml

Maayan Koschitzky, head winemaker at Atelier Melka, is one of the most respected and sought-after winemakers in Napa Valley. When he founded La Pelle Wines with the vineyard dream-team of Pete Richmond and Miguel Luna, the wine world declared it Napa’s next big thing. The label has since risen to become one of the most in-demand in the Valley—on the strength of Cabernets that are even more spectacular than expected.

A few years ago, at the end of a long day, Wine Enthusiast Viticulturist of the Year Miguel Luna told his wife: “If I ever have a wine label, I’m going to call it The %*$king Shovel.” As a partner in the elite Silverado Farming Company, he knew firsthand that making great wine is hard physical work: putting vines in the ground and scooping grape skins out of fermenters—in other words, all shovels. When Luna joined forces with Richmond and Koschitzky, they kept Miguel’s promise, opting for the French name La Pelle—a family-friendly version of “The %*$king Shovel.”

“The Napa Valley Cabernet is really meant to be a showcase of the vintage, not a showcase of one site,” Maayan has told us. Sourced from six stellar vineyards—including Red Hen, Ceniza, and Alluvium, whose grapes go into $145 single-origin La Pelle bottlings—each site is vinified separately before blending, allowing Koschitzky to coax the full range of what Napa’s finest corners can offer.

The 2022 vintage gave him exceptional raw material to work with. Warm days and cool nights produced Cabernets of remarkable concentration and structure across the Valley, and La Pelle’s six sites—spread across St. Helena, Coombsville, and the broader Napa Valley appellation, all farmed by Silverado Farming Company—were no exception.

What’s in the glass reflects both the vintage and the winemaker. Deep black cherry and lush plum arrive first on the nose, followed by layers of crushed violet, mocha, and cedar. On the palate, the wine is plush and precise—intense black fruit and graphite, sweet pipe tobacco and warm vanilla bean, all held together by refined tannins and a lively acidity that lends real vibrancy. The finish lingers with echoes of cassis, dark cocoa, and earthy minerality.