Vintages
Drink, hold, or be careful.
Last fifteen years. Floor-staff calls, not scores. A modest year from a good grower beats a legend year from a lazy one.
- Drink
Open it. Waiting rarely helps.
- Hold
Too young for the typical bottle. Cellar it.
- Careful
Uneven or weak. Buy a grower, not the year — or drink up what you have.
Cabernet
Napa Valley
More consistent than Bordeaux — until fire, drought, or a cold year reminds you California has vintages too.
Valley-floor Cabernet drinks earlier than mountain fruit. 2017 and 2020 need a producer you trust on smoke.
| Year | Call | Character |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Hold | Cooler season, bright reports. Still in barrel. |
| 2024 | Hold | Mixed. Too young to pull a cork on Cabernet. |
| 2023 | Hold | Cool and bright after the heat years. Wait. |
| 2022 | Drink | Warm, earlier. Many bottles already generous. |
| 2021 | Hold | Drought concentration. Still young at the top. |
| 2020 | Careful | Fires and smoke. Skip unless the producer tested and said so. |
| 2019 | Hold | Cooler, structured. Mountain Cabernet still climbing. |
| 2018 | Drink | Generous, classic Napa fruit. Open. |
| 2017 | Careful | Harvest fires. Many wines are fine — ask the house, don’t assume. |
| 2016 | Drink | Excellent and now open. |
| 2015 | Drink | Small and ripe. Drinking. |
| 2014 | Drink | Drought concentration, at peak for most. |
| 2013 | Drink | Structured vintage, much of it at peak. |
| 2012 | Drink | Ripe and classic. Don’t wait. |
| 2011 | Careful | Cool, rain, herb. Drink remaining or skip. |