Napa cabernet still occupies a prized place in the minds of wine lovers everywhere.
Napa Valley cabernet sauvignon is so universally known and adored that revisiting the topic can feel redundant. Yet despite changing trends, shifting tourism numbers (though less so in Napa), and a steady chorus about high prices, Napa cabernet still occupies a prized place in the minds of wine lovers everywhere.
As a California pinot noir producer and enthusiast, I rarely reach for Napa cabernet myself. My wife, Morét Brealynn Chavez, who spent seven years working at Hall Wines and Silver Oak Winery, has no such hesitation—she routinely pulls a bottle from our racks. In fact, our first date featured a bottle of Napa cabernet she brought to my condo. I wasn’t about to say no.
Despite my pinot tendencies, Napa cabernets were some of the first wines that shaped my palate. Early in my wine career, working retail in Texas, I was lucky enough to taste and sell classics from the 1984–1987 vintages and even the occasional bottle from the stellar 1974 and 1978 vintages. Those bottles fueled my passion for wine in the first place.
Recently, I’ve had the chance to revisit Napa cabernet in depth. I spent a day tasting a broad range of 2023s at the Napa Valley Barrel Auction. I spent a late morning up at Hillwalker Vineyards, a small producer crafting beautiful cabernets on Mount Veeder. And I savored an afternoon at the Spottswoode Winery Garden Party, tasting their outstanding 2022s and getting an early peek at their 2023 cabernet sauvignon.
After this re-immersion, a few impressions stuck with me:
First, we’re living in a true Golden Age of Napa cabernet choice. When I first fell for these wines, the style was fairly consistent—modest ripeness, moderate alcohols and clear site expression. You could actually taste “Rutherford dust.” Most wines came from such valley-floor vineyards.
Then came what many call the “Parker Period”—named for the influence of The Wine Advocate’s Robert Parker—though, to be fair, no critic forces a producer’s hand. Producers leaned into riper fruit, bigger extraction and lavish new oak. Popularity soared. Plantings climbed higher up the hillsides. And, as always with stylistic shifts, some wines lost balance in the process. Several were delicious, but some masked terroir under ripeness and winemaking decisions. Eventually, a counter-wave called for restraint and a return to site clarity.
Today, Napa cabernet covers the whole spectrum. Tasting through the wine lineup at the Napa Valley Barrel Auction I found lean, fresh examples that recall the 1970s; plush, opulent wines that channel the late ‘90s; and everything in between. Some are dialed so far back they taste skeletal to me; some swing so ripe they feel overblown. But that’s the beauty: there’s real choice now, more than ever before, both in style and in site—from valley-floor bottlings to structured, hillside-grown gems. We owe that to dedicated winemakers and a maturing region that no longer chases a single mold.
Of course, this abundance comes at a steep cost. As a winemaker myself, I hesitate to judge another winery’s pricing. Every project has its own costs, land prices, farming choices and marketing realities. Honestly, my bank account is more to blame than Napa pricing is—maybe I should have taken a few business classes in college instead of French history (Mom and Dad were right).
Still, it feels like a missed opportunity that so many Napa cabernets are out of reach for so many. The Barrel Auction, for example, rightly encourages high bids to support the community. But imagine a showcase dedicated to celebrating producers who deliver excellent cabernet under $100 a bottle—highlighting wines that embody the range and quality Napa offers without the triple-digit price tag. Broadening the audience would be a gift to the region’s future.
And selfishly, it might get me—rather than just Morét—pulling more Napa cabernet from our cellar on an ordinary evening.
In the end, if you haven’t explored Napa cabernet in a while, do yourself a favor—revisit it. Taste widely. Try a valley-floor classic, then a rugged Mount Veeder bottle. Compare a fresher, lower-alcohol style to a lush, oak-kissed powerhouse. There’s more nuance and more diversity than ever. That’s something worth raising a glass to.
Adam Lee co-founded Siduri Wines in 1994, selling it to Jackson Family Winery in 2015. He now produces and owns Clarice Wine Company and consults with numerous wineries, including Rombauer Vineyards on its Pinot Noir project.
