Ben,
Thanks for the nod. I’m embarrassed… I praised Chappellet and White Rock, but IMO the Frog’s Leap is at least as good as either, for a little less money.
You did good. Enjoy!
Dan Kravitz
Ben, you chose very wisely. If they are recent vintages remember to give them a good decant of at least an hour or more.
Fwiw 16 Chappellet signature cab does fine pnp
Thanks David and Howard for your feedback here and on Alferts where to taste thread. Tasted at Stony Hill today and picked up their 2013 cab. By the way, the new owners are going to stop making a Stony Hill cab and use the grapes for their Long Meadow Ranch Cabernet. No changes planned for the whites, however they are replacing the 1972 press and the county has mandated code upgrades on the winery space.
I joined their club. Never thought I would join a Napa wine club.
BerserkerDay participant Bougetz Cellars makes several stellar Cabs for much less than $100. I like them for their balanced, middle-of-the-road style – not uber-ripe and over-oaked.
Rudius makes a good Napa Cab at $65/bottle. Jeff Ames label. Even his SVD bottles are in the $130-140 range.
If Corison is “more restrained”, then I doubt I’d be able to swallow “the bigger style”.
it’s all relative. corison is more restrained than the others the person mentioned, not really debatable. but thanks for letting us know about the lack of faith in your ability to swallow. and if you think corison is a big dog, maybe add some ice cubes and/or bell pepper sticks 
Just add water to get it down to the acceptable 12.5% ABV!
And for the record I have complete faith in my ability to swallow Mike Smith wines 
really tempted to edit this quote but i’ll be a gentleman. and i concur with your sentiment.
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I can barely sniff wines like Treana or Austin Hope [they burn my nostrils & my windpipe], and I sure can’t swallow them [unless I want a sore throat & a hangover which lasts a couple of weeks].
If y’all can swallow the High Octane juice, then more power to ya.
But Cathy Corison’s wines are at about the far end of what I would call “pleasant,” and even her wines are starting to push the envelope [in the general direction of Jet Fuel].
Nathan Smyth, you’re my hero.
Please make an avatar of you wearing a black cowboy hat.
Just back from tasting La Pelle portfolio. Great QOR and worth the price of admission.
Update: she liked the Chappellet very much. I have a feeling she will like the Frogs Leap even more, but that bottle will be for another time. Thanks again everyone.
To meet the criteria of what to drink now this would be my recommendation especially the 2009.
My other thought since she liked the RC Affinity is 2010 or 2012 Robert Craig Howell or Mt Veeder. These might be the best $100 cabs out there and should be drinking great now. Benchmark has 1 bottle of the 10 Howell.
FIFY
Chappellet is definitely nice, interested to hear how the Frog’s Leap goes over.
As someone else mentioned, Anderson’s Conn Valley might have some interesting options as well. Their Napa Cab is priced under those and probably not quite up to their level but can be a good buy. The Reserve has a high release price but can often be picked up for <$100. The Eloge and Right Bank blends add some nice variety and are always high quality, IMO.
The Shafer 1.5 is nice but those really need a few years so you’d want to pick up an older vintage.
Glad she enjoyed. They are a great family and it’s a wine that should be around for a very long time. They have the next generation in place to make that happen which is a rarity in the valley
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La Pelle
Jones Family
William and Mary
Myriad/Quivet/Becklyn
Lewelling (great QPR)
I’ve been loving the 2018 Mt. Veeder cab. Very fruit-forward at the moment, with fairly soft tannins, but not a fruit bomb. Utterly different from their '14, which was rather austere. I got this for $33 at Bottle King in NJ, though I’ve seen it elsewhere for $40+. It tastes like cab, not some generic big red.