Napa Wines that are "Worth it"

[Nick_Gangas]

great winemaker and vineyard. I’ve found the Kinsman wines are made in a classic style. No raspberry milkshakes here.

[JacC]

Truth. I tried their 2017 recently and it was so approachable and ready to be enjoyed!

[PHuff]

@Adam_Frisch

The Di Costanzo was for me the prototype of a great Cab as I imagine them 40 years ago (not that I had them then): No jam, no ooze, just very integrated and elegant oak profiling, lower ABV, fine tannins and just with that tension and freshness I love. A wine that evolves in the glass continuously as you drink it. You keep going back for more just to check what it’s doing now.

Adam, which Di Costanzo Cab are your referring to specifically? I have several different Di Costanzo Cabs in my cellar from past BerserkerDays, but I so far have only opened the DiCo Cab, I am letting the others rest…

[Bweiss]

My picks…

Corison Napa Valley (the SVDs are incredible too, but at double the price it’s hard to say it’s totally worth it give the primary bottling is exceptionally good).

Truchard. Their Cab Franc is outstanding, and at roughly $40 it may be one of the last values to be found in Napa. The single block and reserve Cabs are no slouches either and worth the modest $70-120 asking.

Roy Piper. Not cheap, but stack it up against almost anything in the $300+ category and it’s absolutely worth it.

[Adam_Frisch]

It was DiCo!

[Peter_Valiquette]

O’Shaughnessy Howell Mountain is great and reasonably priced relative to valley averages. Their regular Napa Valley cab has been a good value in the past.

[Larry_Chmel]

+1. Even the Napa bottling is good.

[JohnMag]

@Bweiss

Truchard

I’ve had some great experiences with Truchard across their line

[JordanF]

Ramey ‘16 cabernet was incredible @ $54…

[Steve_Crawford]

if i had a dollar for every fucking thread on napa wines where someone chimes in with non napa wines, i could probably afford a helicopter to land at screagle.

[JordanF]

Ramey cab is napa juice, no?

[Steve_Crawford]

i haven’t followed them for a while, but i think so.

if im going to add some positivity here, in no particular order, morgado, pezzato, argot.

[Tom_Mann]

Dunn Howell Mountain for me.

[HoosJustinG]

@Guillermo_M

I don’t know much about Napa Cabs except that my experience has confirmed the stereotypes. So, I’m reading this thread with some curiosity.

I think the only one I currently own is regular Detert. I bought it based on its own thread here to see if I could overcome the stereotype and I was shocked at the high ABV when I received it, though I have yet to open or taste any and was assured I won’t notice any heat.

From that perspective, I would humbly ask that everyone explain why they like a wine they recommend instead of merely rattling off names. What makes them special? What sort of ABV are we talking about? And importantly, what’s your palate like more or less? It’s really hard to keep track of so many different tastes, especially in a region one doesn’t follow. (You can edit your prior post too.)

I’m sure I’m not the only one who would be very grateful if you guys took the time to do this.

My reference point for what Napa cab “should” be is basically just great Bordeaux with just a slightly riper core of fruit. I want it to be dry, balanced, powerful in the way that Cabernet is a + tannin and + acidity grape by its nature (as opposed to winemaking dialing everything up to 11 on purpose) … and tasty. I also want it to age gracefully over several decades because I enjoy aged claret more than young. It should be a wine that generally pleases the AFWE crowd AND casual wine drinkers.

[Steve_Crawford]

i agree with you in whole, with 1 exception. so i modified your post there.

@HoosJustinG

It should be a wine that generally pisses off the AFWE crowd

with that i said, im happy we have a valley where you have yours and i have mine.

[HoosJustinG]

@Steve_Crawford

with that i said, im happy we have a valley where you have yours and i have mine.

I think that’s important to highlight, too. Napa wines get stereotyped as carbon copies. I think the emphasis (by some) on the rockstar/consulting winemaker doesn’t always help in this regard. That said, the geology, exposures, climate, flora, etc are actually very diverse. I agree with your sentiment 100%.

[Chris_Seiber]

@HoosJustinG

Napa wines get stereotyped as carbon copies. I think the emphasis (by some) on the rockstar/consulting winemaker doesn’t always help in this regard. That said, the geology, exposures, climate, flora, etc are actually very diverse.

Really, California wines get painted with one broad brush all the time around here. Yet California is probably close to as diverse a set of climates, terroir, varieties, styles, price, and the rest of it as Europe.

[JacC]

Nigel is an exceptional winemaker. Always excited to see what he does next and how he develops the new Bella Oaks vintages .

[Rohit_B]

Bumping to add Kapcsandy Rapszodia. Had the 2012 last week and it was absolutely phenomenal.

[rsmithjr]

I would add Mt. Brave and Melka CJ.