When it comes to wine, the Napa brand seems to be as strong as ever, with both grapes and wine prices invariably shooting upwards in recent years.
October 2017’s wildfires in Napa and Sonoma will only increase the trend —in all likelihood—, while the overall demand for Napa Cabernet Sauvignon grapes and wines is as substantial as ever, at all price tags.
Collectibles and cult bottlings are a category of their own, often mainly available at auctions and top restaurants and therefore commanding even higher prices.
Unlike some top Bordeaux wines, high-end Napa wines are very scarce. As an example, consider the production of first-growth Chateau Margaux, about 10,000-17,000 cases of its Grand Vin alone, to Screaming Eagle’s total production of 500-900 cases.
Yet, comparing prices of the Top 25 Most-Expensive Bordeaux wines, to our list of the most expensive bottles from Napa, you will find that Napa’s are still a tiny bit behind still, but not far off…
I have gathered below the list of the Top 25 Most Expensive Napa wines with a short description of what they’re about, an interesting wine video when I could find one, and link to the winery website for practicality, and further information for the curious geeks in the crowd.
Watch the Story of the Most Expensive Wine Ever Sold in Video
1 – Screaming Eagle Sauvignon Blanc, Oakville
Average Price: $4,900 – £3,500 – €3,955
Grape Variety/Blend: Sauvignon Blanc
What is it about? If you’re not familiar with Screaming Eagle winery, read the description in their Cabernet Sauvignon section just below the Sauvignon Blanc section here.
The ‘white Screaming Eagle’, made from barrel fermented was initially supposed to be a small treat (50 cases or 600 bottles) exclusive to the winery’s long-lasting customers, only available via the official mailing-list and launched at $250 in 2012 (first-ever vintage released on the market was 2010). It wasn’t long though, before the wine was traded and speculated upon on the secondary market, via brokers or auction houses. So much so in fact that it now fetches more than the Cab Sauv!
Reportedly, Robert Parker Jr. of the Wine Advocate said about Screaming Eagle’s Sauvignon: “There’s nothing terribly special about it, and I can think of a dozen or so Sauvignon Blancs made in nearby vineyards that are richer, more complex, and just better wines at much lower price points.”
Winery Website: screamingeagle.com
2 – Screaming Eagle Cabernet Sauvignon
Average Price: $3,587 – £2,562 – €2,895
Grape Variety/Blend: Cabernet Sauvignon – Merlot – Cabernet Franc
What is it about? Screaming Eagle is, without a doubt, one of THE very original Californian cult wines. Owner and winery founder Jean Philips was selling grapes to other Napa Valley wineries she decided in 1992 to make her own wine. Early vintages of Screaming Eagle, ex-cellar, were sold at $75! But by 1995 the price was raised to $125, the most expensive wine in California already at the time.
Jean Phillips sold the winery to Charles Banks and Stan Kroenke in 2006. They replanted vineyards, extended production volumes and raised the price tag another notch. The winery’s second label called ‘Second Flight’ was first released in 2012 (see further below at wine rank #6) and their white Sauvignon Blanc wine also launched the same year.
Screaming Eagle’s iconic red wine is made from Cabernet Sauvignon, generally blended with some Merlot (15-20%) and a small proportion of Cabernet Franc. The wine is aged in 65% new French oak barrels for nearly two years. The rocky vineyard’s grapes are sourced from a West-facing hillside in the Oakville Appellation, east of the Napa River. Facing West (towards the sunset, shadowed from the morning sun), the slopes benefit from Napa’s warm afternoons allowing to ripen the heat-demanding Cabernet grapes. Yet, the vineyard also benefits from the cooling effect of the ocean breezes coming from the San Pablo Bay, from the late afternoon all the way until late morning.
The average annual production of Screaming Eagle Napa Cab Sauv is around 500 cases only (6000 bottles). The original winemaker in 1992 was Heidi Barret, later replaced by Andy Erickson. Nick Gislason, who previously worked at Harlan Estate, is the current winemaker at Screaming Eagle, which he has been since 2012.
Winery Website: screamingeagle.com
3 – Harlan Estate
Average Price: $994 – £710 – €802
Grape Variety/Blend: Bordeaux Blend Red
What is it about? With the founding of Harlan Estate in 1984, we embarked upon our mission of creating a “first growth” of California. The estate’s early vineyard development began with just six acres. Today our planting is essentially complete, with nearly forty acres under vine to the classic varietals: cabernet sauvignon (70%), merlot (20%), cabernet franc (8%), and petit verdot (2%).
Invariably, the finished wine is predominately cabernet sauvignon, which we blend with varying amounts of the other three varietals as we seek to express faithfully the unique and distinctive character of the site. Modest quantities of wine were produced in 1987, 1988, and 1989 from grapes that represented the second, third, and fourth leaf of our estate vineyard. In each of those years a small number of barrels were produced in the hope of gaining a prescient glimpse into what the character of the land—never before cultivated—might have to offer.
The wines were blended, bottled, and labeled with a special designation. Though charming in their own way, these first wines fell short of our standards and aspirations, so were never released. They continue to serve as humble reminders of where we began the journey.
Winery Website: harlanestate.com
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4 – Ghost Horse Vineyard ‘Fantome’ Cabernet Sauvignon
Average Price: $988 – £706 – €798
Grape Variety/Blend: Cabernet Sauvignon
What is it about? In the late 90’s, Todd Anderson, owner and winemaker of Anderson’s Conn Valley Vineyards, started to develop the most heard about, talked about wine in the world kept it a secret for 10 years.
The first vintage of Ghost Horse was 2000 and it wasn’t until December of 2009 that the world discovered that these legendary wines did indeed exist. A double-blind tasting called Cult Wines against Ghost Horse was held in New York City and the Ghost Horse wines have been some of the most talked about wines in the world since.
The vineyard is planted to 2200 vines per acre. The row spacing is 5 feet and the plant spacing is 4 feet and is managed to produce approximately 4 tons of fruit per acre.
There are 5 separate distinct Cabernets that are produced from the vineyard. Each of the wines are 100% Cabernet, come from a different part of the vineyard and have wine making techniques applied that are unique to each wine. Total production is 300 – 400 cases. Chardonnay was added to the portfolio in 2012 with 50 cases of production.
In fact, Ghost Horse has 4 tiers of wines, including several that are more expensive than the Fantome, with one barrel per tier produced only! A bottle of the ‘standard’ Napa Cabernet sells on allocation at the winery for $400, Fantome for $1,000, Apparition for $2,000; and finally, Spectre for $3,500. Only Fantome features in the present list as it is the only one available across enough vintages and wine merchants in Wine-Searcher database (see note on wines included in this list at the bottom of this page).
Winery Website: ghosthorseworld.com
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5- Scarecrow Cabernet Sauvignon, Rutherford
Average Price: $790 – £564 – €637
Grape Variety/Blend: Cabernet Sauvignon
What is it about? The scarecrow story begins in a patch of earth with a fabled past. The J.J. Cohn Estate, where Scarecrow grapes are born, borders what was once the legendary vineyard of Inglenook winemaker Gustave Niebaum, whose plantings blanketed more than 1,000 acres of the Napa Valley at the close of the 19th century.
John Daniel Jr. took the helm at Inglenook in 1939, determined to restore the label to pre-Prohibition standing and produce world-class Bordeaux-style wines. In 1945, Daniel convinced his neighbor, J.J. Cohn, to plant eighty acres of Cabernet vines on the 180-acre parcel Cohn had purchased a few years prior. The property served as a summer retreat for Cohn’s wife and their family. He had no ambitions to become a winemaker himself, but Daniel promised to buy his grapes, so Cohn planted vines. The rest, as they say, is history.
J.J. Cohn fruit figured prominently in Inglenook’s superlative Cabernet Sauvignons of the post-war era, and has more recently gone into wines of such renown as Opus One, Niebaum-Coppola, Duckhorn, Insignia and Etude.
J.J. Cohn Estate grapes are highly sought-after in part because Cohn bucked the trend, begun in the mid- 1960s, of replacing vines planted on St. George rootstock with the supposedly superior AxR#I hybrid. Over time, vines grafted onto this new stock proved highly vulnerable to phylloxera. But by then, virtually all of the old St. George vines in Napa had been destroyed. Only the original 1945 J.J. Cohn vines survived. These highly prized “Old Men” continue to produce uncommonly rich fruit—the hallmark of Scarecrow wine.
Winery Website: scarecrowwine.com
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6 – Screaming Eagle Second Flight
Average Price: $706 – £504 – €570
Grape Variety/Blend: Cabernet Franc – Merlot
What is it about? As its name indicates, Second Flight is the second label of cult California winery Screaming Eagle. First released in 2012 (read more about Screaming Eagle in the top 2 sections of this page), the grapes Second Flight is made from come from younger wines whose fruit are not yet quite concentrated or refined enough to be blended in Screaming Eagle’s Grand Vin. Fun fact: the first release of Second Flight was sold on allocation to mailing list customers only, for $225 ‘only’!
Winery Website: screamingeagle.com
7 – Harlan Estate Promontory
Average Price: $696 – £497 – €562
Grape Variety/Blend: Cabernet Sauvignon
What is it about? As told by H. William Harlan: “In the early 1980s while hiking along Oakville’s southwestern ridge, H. William Harlan discovered an isolated territory. The hidden expanse — ancient and untamed — moved him deeply, but remained elusive until the Harlan family finally captured it in 2008. As the second generation explored and worked with the land, they began to make discoveries of their own. At the core of this wild terrain they found a powerful geologic convergence, which had shaped its steep, rugged topography, and created the conditions for an altogether exotic winegrowing environment. Over time they found that the dramatic landscape — just beyond the edge of the known — would slowly change them, and ultimately inspire a new endeavor: Promontory.
As we evolve through the seasons of our lives, there is always the “missing piece” that draws us onwards… maybe it’s the challenge of the next vintage, the next level of enrichment, a new discovery, or a greater meaning. And at a certain point we start to look past our lifetime, with the hope that the next generation might, in their own way, go beyond the dreams we initiated.
When I first came upon the land that would become Promontory, its untamed ruggedness was a surprise — quite different from anything I had encountered in the Napa Valley. This wild place, overlooked for most of the 20th century, emanated a power and a mystery and an undefinable allure.
It wasn’t until the first decade of the 21st century that we had the good fortune of acquiring the unmarked territory. This was the beginning of a new era, a time of exploration and discovery led by the next generation.
Wines from hillsides of Promontory reflect the many aspects of the territory: the native forests, the moisture of the ephemeral fog, and the minerality of the geologic underpinnings. These disparate facets in symphony provide a natural balance of freshness, energy, and tannin. We believe these traits, in wine, are the building blocks of great vitality and long life.”
Winery Website: promontory.wine
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8 – Realm Cellars The Absurd Red
Average Price: $668 – £477 – €539
Grape Variety/Blend: ‘Absurdely Good’ Red Blend
What is it about? Winery’s wine description: “The Absurd stems from a simple yet fantastically complex proposition: it’s the very best wine that Realm Cellars produces. It began in 2005, a big, gorgeous vintage that gave us an abundance of glorious fruit. With no rules, no restrictions, we created what we called the super blend, the best of the best. In 2005, it so happened that the blend was 38% Petit Verdot.
We thought that was kind of absurd. The name stuck, though the meaning has morphed into a wine that is ‘absurdly good.’ We only make The Absurd in certain years, when there is enough fruit to make this small blend without impacting the other Realm wines.
The Absurd could be one varietal, it could be five. It could come from one vineyard lot, it could come from a dozen. Each time we make The Absurd we start with a blank canvas. Our sole guideline is our palate. Our sole aim is the best Napa Valley wine of the vintage.”
Realm Cellars winemaker is Benoit Touquette with consultant Michel Rolland.
Winery Website: realmcellars.com
9 – Schrader Cellars Old Sparky Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon
Average Price: $633 – £452 – €511
Grape Variety/Blend: Cabernet Sauvignon
What is it about? Schrader Cellars’s flagship Cabernet is made from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon grapes from the famous Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard in Oakville and aged for 20 months in Darnajou French oak barrels. Winery winemaker is Thomas Brown.
The Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard in Oakville, first planted in 1868 by viticultural and winemaking icon Hamilton Crabb, has long been regarded as the source of Napa Valley’s finest Cabernet Sauvignon grapes. Within the vineyard, an alluvial fan provides excellent mineral deposits, and the rich soils are filled with marine sediment.
The vines receive full sun and optimal heat during the day and are cooled by marine fog at night. These conditions allow each of the three clones planted in this vineyard (4, 6, and 337), to display its own unique character, and this celebration of individuality is the essence of Schrader.
Winery Website: schradercellars.com
10 – Dana Estates Lotus Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon
Average Price: $624 – £446 – €504
Grape Variety/Blend: Cabernet Sauvignon with a small proportion of Petit Verdot
What is it about? Located at 1200 feet above sea level in the Vaca Mountains on the east side of the valley, Lotus is the warmest of our three vineyards. With rocky soils and low yielding vines facing west that embrace the afternoon sun, Lotus produces a wine of power and concentration. Packed with layers of black fruit, with notes of mocha, anise and graphite, Lotus tends to be the most full bodied of the three wines Dana Estates produces.
Winery Notes about Harvest and Ageing of the 2015 vintage: “Lotus is the most adapted of our vineyards to heat. Over the last decade we have been moving toward dry-farming, forcing the vines to look deeper for water. Through the hot, dry season we kept one block of Lotus completely dryfarmed. This caused some nervousness and second guessing through the 105°F plus temperatures September 8-10th . But we were rewarded with small, intense berries that weathered the heat with little dehydration.
We started harvest during a cool spell on September 12th when peak temperatures had dropped to a more normal 88°F, just before another heat spell. The clone 337 ripened a bit slower and was harvested on September 23rd. We paired the fruit and structure expressed by the different clones with three different fermentation tank types; concrete, oak upright, and barrels. The wines were fermented with native yeast and macerated on skins for 31 and 46 days. The clone 15 had the most structure and took the longest for the fruit and tannin to integrate.”
Winery Website: danaestates.com
Related Reads: Other Top $$$ Wine Lists
11 – Bryant Family Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon
Average Price: $606 – £433 €489
Grape Variety/Blend: Cabernet Sauvignon
What is it about? Bryant Family Vineyard is located on a Pritchard Hill estate in the Napa Valley, and was founded by businessman and art collector Donald L. Bryant Jr. and his former wife, Barbara Bryant. It was one of the original cult wines to emerge during the early 1990s, along with wineries such as Screaming Eagle, Harlan Estate, and Colgin.
The winery is famous for this 100% Cabernet Sauvignon made from our 13-acre estate vineyard atop Pritchard Hill, overlooking Lake Hennessey. This first growth vineyard is meticulously farmed by David Abreu, with whom we have worked closely for more than 12 years. This wine intends to be a testament to the dedication of Bryant Family winemaking and vineyard team who aim to produce the finest wine possible from this site.
Winery Website: bryantwines.com
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12 – Abreu Vineyard ‘Thorevilos’ Cabernet Sauvignon
Average Price: $581 – £415 – €469
Grape Variety/Blend: Bordeaux Blend Red
What is it about? Abreu Vineyards winery in Napa Valley, California was founded in 1980 by the viticulturist David Abreu, a third-generation rancher from St. Helena.
Early on, it was all about the vineyards. Making wine didn’t happen until 1986, when David tried his hand with a few barrels of Cabernet from Madrona Ranch. He never released the wine. He’d always heard the first release can make or break you, and the ’86 just wasn’t good enough. So ’87 was the first Abreu wine David sold. “I’d leave bottles at restaurants around the valley and tell them to drink it with their staff. ‘If you like it, call me.’”
That’s how it all began. A close observer, David had the opportunity to learn from some of the best. Winemakers who understood, as he did, that it was all about the vineyards, the soils, the fruit. As for the winemaking, he got a lot of advice, listened to it all, and then carved his own path. Made wine the way he thought it should be made.
Some people shook their heads. Wondered why he went to such lengths. But it’s the same approach he takes in the vineyards. He just does what he feels, in his gut, is right.
He’s done it that way for 30 years now.
Winery Website: abreuvineyards.com
13 – Bryant Family Vineyard Bettina Red
Average Price: $573 – £409 – €462
Grape Variety/Blend: Bordeaux Blend Red
What is it about? The Bettina Bryant Proprietary Red Wine is a layered and complex blend of Bordeaux varietals sourced from three of David Abreu’s own exceptional estate vineyards – Madrona, Thorevilos, and Lucia Howell Mountain. A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Petit Verdot, this powerhouse wine is made with the same attention to detail as the estate Cabernet Sauvignon and named after Bryant Family Vineyard President, Bettina Bryant.
Winery Website: bryantwines.com
14 – Diamond Creek Lake Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon
Average Price: $560 – £400 – €452
Grape Variety/Blend: Cabernet Sauvignon
What is it about? This tiny ¾ acre vineyard nestled by our lake is the coolest of microclimates because of the cool Pacific breezes that travel down the Russian River corridor each afternoon.
The grapes require a long hang time to ripen, and when they do ripen, they make an exceptional wine. In fact, Lake wines have been produced only 16 times since 1972.
Winery Website: diamondcreekvineyards.com
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15 – MacDonald Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon, Oakville
Average Price: $549 – £392 – €443
Grape Variety/Blend: Cabernet Sauvignon
What is it about? In 1954, the MacDonald Family planted the first vines on the property since prohibition as the last of the cherry trees were being removed. For 60 years the grapes had been sold exclusively to Robert Mondavi and had been part of his Reserve and To-Kalon blends since their inception. Robert Mondavi used to refer to the MacDonalds as “the best grape-growers in the Napa Valley” and, when he resurrected the property’s historic name, the family was included as the only private growers to be part of the Robert Mondavi To-Kalon Vineyard. In 2010, for the first time in the family’s 60 year stewardship, and in over 140 years of grape-growing history on the property, the Macdonalds presented their our first vintage release of MACDONALD Cabernet.
Winery Website: macdonaldvineyards.com
16 – Dana Estates Hershey Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, Howell Mountain
Average Price: $546 – £390 – €441
Grape Variety/Blend: Cabernet Sauvignon
What is it about? The incredibly rocky, rhyolitic soils of this Howell Mountain site at Hershey Vineyard provide fruit with structure and depth, yet the cool climate produces a wine of restraint and vibrant wine acidity. An underlying minerality gives the wine a particularly distinctive character and provides another layer of complexity. The appellation has become a favorite of collectors who value the ageworthy capacity of wines from this elevation.
Winery Notes about the current release, 2015 vintage: Hershey is Dana Estates’ highest and coolest vineyard where temperatures barely crested 100°F during the various heat spells during the growing season. Despite the numerous heat events in August and September, we harvested only three to five days earlier than normal. Harvest started during an unusual cool spell after a heat event in late September. The 2015 harvest started on September 29th on a small area with rocky, well-drained soils.The majority of the SEE clone Cabernet Sauvignon was harvested just two days later on October 1st and the final pick of the clone 191 was on October 5th.
The fruit was fermented by native yeast in oak tanks and barrels, staying on the skins for 30-40 days. The free-run juice was drained directly to oak barrels for the malolactic fermentation and aging.
Winery Website: danaestates.com
17 – Colgin Cellars IX Estate Vineyard Red
Average Price: $542 – £387 – €437
Grape Variety/Blend: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot
What is it about? The Colgin winery, completed in 2002, is located at the northern end of IX Estate in the Pritchard Hill area of St. Helena, California. The modern winery provides an inspiring view of Lake Hennessey.
The IX Estate Vineyard (or ‘Number 9 Estate”) is a 20-acre vineyard carved out of a magnificent 125-acre parcel that varies in slope from gentle to steep, with elevations ranging from 1150-1350 feet above sea level. Located high above Lake Hennesey on a secluded mountaintop in the Pritchard Hill area of St. Helena, it is nestled in hillsides of rocky volcanic soils, and embraced by a most agreeable climate. Wine connoisseur and critic Robert Parker considers IX ESTATE “as close to a viticultural nirvana as I’ve ever seen.”
The wine is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. The number IX refers to the parcel number and is also significant as the date Ann and Joe were married: 9/9. The 2002 vintage was the first, of four vintages, from this property to achieve the highest accolade of “a perfect wine”. Each year the blend displays extraordinary intensity, a beautiful purity, and a remarkably long finish. Approachable when young, it ages most gracefully.
Winery Website: colgincellars.com
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18 – Hundred Acre ‘Few and Far Between’ Cabernet Sauvignon
Average Price: $525 – £375 – €424
Grape Variety/Blend: Cabernet Sauvignon
What is it about? “Woodbridge’s vineyard tucked away near the famous Eisele Vineyard, now owned by Château Latour, produces the wine known as the 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon Few and Far Between Vineyard. This is another luxurious, exceptionally concentrated and loaded wine with great intensity, a multi-dimensional mouthfeel, unbelievable amounts of blackberry, cassis and blueberry fruit, crushed rock minerality, and a floral note. It is easily the most backward of the five Cabernet Sauvignons I tasted from Woodbridge in 2012. The wine is super-intense, displays plenty of tannin, but is silky and well-integrated. This wine needs at least 4-5 years of cellaring, and should keep for 30-50 years, as it promises to be one of the modern-day legends from Napa.” Robert M. Parker, Jr. – The Wine Advocate, 28th Aug 2015
Winery Website: hundredacre.com
19 – Hundred Acre ‘Deep Time’ Cabernet Sauvignon
Average Price: $524 – £374 – €423
Grape Variety/Blend: Cabernet Sauvignon
What is it about? Hundred Acre is owned by Jayson Woodbridge, a winemaker who has been defying conventional wisdom about winemaking for years. He started Hundred Acre winery in St. Helena, California, and the Hundred Acre winery in the Barossa Valley, Australia. He makes single-vineyard, highly limited wines in both places. In California Hundred Acre is a Cabernet Sauvignon released only to the winery’s s mailing list.
Hundred Acre’s first California vintage in 2000 earned praise from reviewers, and more recent vintages have earned very high scores from Robert M. Parker Jr., among others. Hundred Acre’s signature wine from California is the Kayli Morgan Vineyard Cab. The signature AU wine is the single vineyard Ancient Way Shiraz. Woodbridge is also the entrepreneur behind the Cherry Pie and Layer Cake wine labels. Cherry Pie is a Pinot Noir from Carneros and Layer Cake is a value-priced portfolio of varietals. (Source: winebid.com)
Winery Website: hundredacre.com
20 – Dana Estates Helms Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, Rutherford
Average Price: $519 – £371 – €419
Grape Variety/Blend: Cabernet Sauvignon
What is it about? Helms Vineyard is a gently sloping site is relatively cool, and is protected from the intensity of the late afternoon heat during the height of the growing season. The gravelly loam soils provide excellent drainage and wonderful fruit purity. Helms Vineyard Cabernet displays the classic profile of the Rutherford Bench: dark fruit, richly layered with a touch of spice and earth. The finely grained “dusty” tannins so prevalent in the appellation are integrated and harmonious, producing a wine of sophistication and depth.
Winery Notes about the current release, 2015 vintage: The earliest harvest at the Helms Estate in Dana Estates’ history. Our decision to prune early played a critical part in giving the vines enough time to fully ripen the fruit. We started harvesting just before a heat spell on September 11th, the earliest harvest by two full weeks. Our next pick was a week later from the lower block of clone 337 during a cool period between the two September heat events. Smaller vines and our commitment to minimal irrigation over the past decade produced intensely flavored fruit with minimal dehydration. The fruit was fermented in both oak tank and barrels for 30-35 days by native yeast and the resulting wines were drained directly to barrel for aging.
Winery Website: danaestates.com
21 – Hundred Acre ‘Fortification’ Port
Average Price: $514 – £367 – €415
Grape Variety/Blend: Cabernet Sauvignon
What is it about? “Additional proof that maverick genius Jayson Woodbridge is at the top of his game, the 2008 Fortification is another perfect fortified wine. It offers up notes of white flowers, blackberry liqueur, charcoal embers, licorice and chocolate as well as a striking resemblance to one of my favorite dark roast coffees from the Death Wish Coffee Company. Inky, rich and full-bodied with smooth, silky tannins, and gorgeously integrated brandy which does not burn or come across as rough or astringent (even in such a young fortified wine), this utterly profound wine should age for 50 or more years.” Robert M. Parker, Jr. – The Wine Advocate, about the 100/100 pts 2008 vintage.
Winery Website: hundredacre.com
22 – Levy & McClellan Cabernet Sauvignon
Average Price: $512 – £366 – €414
Grape Variety/Blend: Cabernet Sauvignon
What is it about? This small highend Napa wine project was started by husband and wife, Bob Levy and Martha McClellan, in 1999.
Very little information seems to be available. The winery website states, rather mysteriously: “As humble servants of Mother Nature and caring stewards of the land, we are inspired by a shared passion and the unique character of our distinguished hillside vineyard. We are dedicated to making wines of uncompromised quality that offer the purest expression of their origin.”
Wine Advocate’s Robert Parker said about the winery: “Bob Levy, long-time winemaker at Harlan Estate, and his wife, Martha McClellan, who has done incredible consulting work at such top-flight wineries as Sloan and Blankiet, have their own small project whose results to date have been magnificent wines. Although expensive, no one will complain about the quality in the bottle as they are clearly Napa Valley first-growths.”
Winery Website: levymcclellan.com
23 – Sloan Proprietary Red, Rutherford
Average Price: $507 – £362 – €409
Grape Variety/Blend: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot
What is it about? The estate’s flagship wine since its inaugural 2000 vintage, SLOAN Proprietary Red is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot. The 2002 and 2007 vintages of SLOAN achieved the highest critical acclaim by Robert Parker, qualified as “perfect wine” with 100/100 points scores. The winery’s second wine, Asterisk, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, was first released in 2004.
Winery Website: sloanestate.com
24 – Pahlmeyer Pièce de Resistance
Average Price: $505 – £361 – €408
Grape Variety/Blend: Cabernet Sauvignon
What is it about? Named after the main dish in a French meal, Pièce de Resistance in its current release )vintage 2013) is a special selection of the winery’s finest five barrels of Cabernet Sauvignon from that year. The only 100% Napa Cabernet Sauvignon produced by
Pahlmeyer, Pièce de Résistance aims at at representing “an experience of this varietal in its purest form.”
After awarding the wine a perfect 100-point score, this is what Robert Parker aka The Wine Advocate said about it December 2016: “The 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon Pièce De Résistance is a selection of the five best barrels in the wine cellar, aged in 100% Taransaud cooperage. The first perfect score I’ve given to Pahlmeyer – but highly deserving – this is a masterpiece of gorgeous crème de cassis, blackberry liqueur, forest floor, camphor, charcoal and white flowers, magnificent concentration, wonderfully subtle oak, and a finish of close to a minute. In short, Cabernet Sauvignon rarely gets any better than this, but latching onto a bottle or two will not be easy. Drink it over the next 30-40 years.”
Winery Website: pahlmeyer.com
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25 – Dalla Valle Vineyards Maya
Average Price: $494 – £353 – €399
Grape Variety/Blend: Bordeaux Blend Red
What is it about? This ‘jewel in the crown’ by Dalle Vineyards originates from a vineyard that shares its name. A proprietary blend aged in primarily new French oak, Maya showcases the site’s Cabernet Franc. Fewer than 500 cases are produced each year.
Winery notes about the latest 2015 release: “With 2015 being the driest year on record in California, our estate vineyard showed its grit and tenacity, gliding through the summer with low vigor canopies and a small but balanced crop load. By mid-season we knew it was going to be an early harvest, and indeed it was, we were finished by the second week in September. The crew was ready, and worked diligently to carefully hand harvest and sort the fruit. Color and tannin extracted easily, and very quickly we had some eye-opening wines in the barrel— dark, aromatic, fresh, and very limited in quantity.”
Winery Website: dallavallevineyards.com
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Also Read the Top 50 Most Expensive Wines in the World
This list of the Top 25 most expensive Champagne wines in the world was retrieved from the biggest wine price database in the world at Wine-Searcher.com as per November 2017, you can see the original list here. Note that to be included on the list, a wine must have at least 10 offers worldwide across at least four vintages. Prices are ex-tax worldwide averages for 750ml bottles.
Sources, References, & Interesting Reads
About Napa Cabernet Prices winesandvines.com
Some of the Best Napa Wines foodandwine.com
Paradoc of the Cult California Wines sfchronicle.com
About Screaming Eagle thewinecellarinsider.com
More about Screaming Eagle bbr.com
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