2023 Synthesis Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 750 ml

The label simply says "Napa Valley."

But the lineup of vineyards that goes into Martin Ray's 2023 Synthesis Cabernet boasts a Big Red Machine level of quality.

The backbone of the wine comes from a star vineyard on Diamond Mountain—one that supplies Lokoya with fruit for their $400 bottling—and a coveted site in Rutherford. For this vintage, the blend also draws from Oakville and St. Helena, two of the most prestigious and expensive AVAs in all of Napa. It's all matched with heavy-hitter sites in Mt. Veeder and Oak Knoll, farmed by famous names and protected by strict NDAs.

Crafted by 100-point winemaker Keith Emerson, the 2023 Synthesis earned 96 points from James Suckling—a fitting reward for a vintage that may go down as one of the greatest Napa has ever produced. The Wine Independent described it as a winemaker's dream, and some in the trade have gone so far as to call it a once-in-a-lifetime year. The coolest growing season in more than a decade, 2023 delivered the holy grail of winegrowing: slow, even ripening from start to finish, with ample winter rainfall recharging the soils and a mild summer that let the fruit develop on its own terms. The result was Cabernet with pure, concentrated fruit, bright natural acidity, and fine-grained tannins—elegant and structured, built for both near-term enjoyment and years in the cellar.

The Martin Ray team conceived of the Synthesis bottling as a yin-yang challenge of capturing Napa terroir—combining the dense, brambly character of mountain fruit with the plush richness of valley-floor grapes. Ever since its inaugural vintage, Synthesis has been a favorite, carefully tracked by Cabernet-loving bargain-hunters year to year.

For the 2023, each vineyard lot was harvested, fermented, and aged separately to preserve site character. Handpicked fruit was cold-soaked for 48 hours before fermentation, then spent 21–29 days on skins for texture and complexity. The final blend was aged in 45% new French and American oak, then bottled unfined and unfiltered.