{"title":"11\/5\/26 Offer: Beautifully Cellared Napa Valley Benchmarks","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"beringer-vineyards-cabernet-sauvignon-private-reserve-1987","title":"Beringer Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Private Reserve 1987","description":"This is a rare chance to taste what nearly four decades in bottle does to a California Cabernet, and it comes from the oldest continuously operating winery in the state. Brothers Jacob and Frederick Beringer founded the house in St. Helena in 1876. They picked the Napa Valley because its climate and hillsides reminded them of home on the Rhine, and from the start they wanted to make California wines that could stand next to Europe's great ones. They were also among the first in Napa to build a gravity-flow winery and to hand-dig caves into the hillsides. Frederick's 17-room stone mansion, the Rhine House, is on the National Register of Historic Places and is still the centre of the estate. The house credits winemakers Myron Nightingale and Ed Sbragia with taking its Cabernet in new directions, and this 1987 Private Reserve is a mature bottle that shows where that ambition led. Stand it upright for a day or two before opening and decant it gently off any sediment.","brand":"Private [PRI]","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44125562503203,"sku":"SF-A-HDH1026-110226-3-1","price":179.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0044\/1208\/0163\/files\/Bottle-of-Beringer-Vineyards-Cabernet-Sauvignon-Private-Reserve-1987-Red-Wine-Flatiron-SF.jpg?v=1793746277"},{"product_id":"caymus-vineyards-cabernet-sauvignon-special-selection-1985-1-5l-mid-neck-stained-label","title":"Caymus Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Special Selection 1985 (1.5L, Mid-Neck stained label)","description":"A magnum of Caymus Special Selection from 1985: the Wagner family's flagship Cabernet, made from the best barrels of each year's Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, which the family sets aside. The label is stained and the fill sits at mid-neck, which is a healthy level for a bottle this old. The tired label also makes this a bottle for opening at the table rather than keeping on a shelf. Caymus introduced Special Selection in 1975, just three years after Charlie and Lorna Wagner and their son Chuck opened the winery with 240 cases of Cabernet. The family's Rutherford roots go back much further. Carl Wagner, an immigrant from Alsace, bought farmland there in 1906, and in the 1960s Charlie pulled out the fruit orchards and planted a Cabernet clone he got from Stags Leap grower Nathan Fay. By 1984 Chuck was running all the farming and winemaking, and Caymus is still 100% family-owned. As with any wine this age, no two bottles are quite the same, so stand it upright for a day and decant it gently.","brand":"Private [PRI]","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44125565091875,"sku":"SF-A-HDH1026-110226-14-B-7","price":299.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0044\/1208\/0163\/files\/Bottle-of-Caymus-Vineyards-Cabernet-Sauvignon-Special-Selection-1985-1_5L-Mid-Neck-stained-label-Red-Wine-Flatiron-SF.jpg?v=1793746301"},{"product_id":"caymus-vineyards-cabernet-sauvignon-special-selection-1986-1-5l-base-neck","title":"Caymus Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Special Selection 1986 (1.5L, Base Neck)","description":"This is a 1986 magnum of Special Selection, the Cabernet Caymus makes from the best barrels of its Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. Those barrels are set aside each year, and the wine is made in smaller quantities than the regular bottling. The fill sits at the base of the neck, which is what you hope to see on a bottle nearly four decades old. Caymus was only fourteen years old in 1986. Chuck Wagner and his late parents, Lorna and Charlie Sr., had opened the winery in 1972 with just 240 cases of Cabernet. The family still owns and runs Caymus, so this bottle comes from early in a story that's still going. If you only know modern Caymus, this is a rare chance to taste the flagship from its first chapter. As with any wine this age, no two bottles are quite the same. Stand it upright for a day before opening and decant it gently.","brand":"Private [PRI]","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44125565124643,"sku":"SF-A-HDH1026-110226-15-B-7","price":239.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0044\/1208\/0163\/files\/Bottle-of-Caymus-Vineyards-Cabernet-Sauvignon-Special-Selection-1986-1_5L-Base-Neck-Red-Wine-Flatiron-SF.jpg?v=1793746302"},{"product_id":"bryant-family-vineyard-cabernet-sauvignon-1992","title":"Bryant Family Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 1992","description":"This is where it all starts: 1992 was the first release of Bryant Family Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, the debut vintage of one of Napa's original cult Cabernets. Don Bryant bought land on Pritchard Hill in 1986, then picked up the 13-acre vineyard next door and decided to plant Cabernet Sauvignon. David Abreu planted the vines, and Helen Turley made the wine, as she did for the estate's whole first decade. The vineyard sits on the western slope of Pritchard Hill and climbs from about 900 to 1,200 feet above Lake Hennessey. It rests on steep volcanic soils with steady mountain breezes. The wine is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, and the Bryants credit the site's mix of slopes, exposures and soils for the complexity a single grape can show. For anyone who collects Napa's cult era, this is the first chapter.","brand":"Private [PRI]","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44125565681699,"sku":"SF-A-HDH1026-110226-16-3","price":429.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0044\/1208\/0163\/files\/Bottle-of-Bryant-Family-Vineyard-Cabernet-Sauvignon-1992-Red-Wine-Flatiron-SF.jpg?v=1793746303"},{"product_id":"silver-oak-cabernet-sauvignon-napa-valley-1997","title":"Silver Oak Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 1997","description":"This is Silver Oak from the original Oakville dairy-barn winery, and the winery itself calls 1997 a generous vintage. When Silver Oak retasted this Napa Valley Cabernet in February 2021, they found a fleshy, round wine with dense structure and fine tannins that were present but not overbearing. It comes from a rare overlap in the house's history: co-founder Justin Meyer, who started Silver Oak with Ray Duncan in 1972, was still making the wine, and Daniel Baron, the successor he had picked in 1994, was working alongside him. That barn burned in 2006 and the winery was rebuilt on the same ground, so this bottle is a real link to the old Silver Oak. The blend is 93% Cabernet Sauvignon with 5% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot, at a moderate 13.9% alcohol, and it carries the American-oak signature that Silver Oak has built everything around. One piece of trivia: the name was Bonny Meyer's idea, because the barn sat halfway between Oakville and the Silverado Trail. If you only know Silver Oak from current releases, this is a chance to taste the house style with real age on it.","brand":"Private [PRI]","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44125566205987,"sku":"SF-A-HDH1026-110226-19-3","price":199.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0044\/1208\/0163\/files\/Bottle-of-Silver-Oak-Cabernet-Sauvignon-Napa-Valley-1997-Red-Wine-Flatiron-SF.jpg?v=1793746307"},{"product_id":"marcassin-pinot-noir-marcassin-vineyard-2001","title":"Marcassin Pinot Noir Marcassin Vineyard 2001","description":"This is a mature bottle of one of California's hardest-to-find Pinot Noirs, from the estate vineyard the winery is named after. Marcassin is the small Sonoma Coast winery of winemaker Helen Turley and her husband, viticulturist John Wetlaufer. Turley has consulted for many acclaimed wineries, but Marcassin is where she now does most of her own work. Their 20-acre vineyard is planted two-thirds Pinot Noir and one-third Chardonnay, with the vines set close together and yields kept low. The wines are bottled with no fining, filtering or cold stabilization. Roughly 90% of the wine goes to the mailing list, and buyers can wait years for an allocation, so these rarely turn up on a shop shelf. One with more than two decades of age on it is rarer still. (The name is French for \"young wild boar,\" which is worth remembering when you plan dinner.)","brand":"Private [PRI]","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44125566238755,"sku":"SF-A-HDH1026-110226-20-4","price":319.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0044\/1208\/0163\/files\/Bottle-of-Marcassin-Pinot-Noir-Marcassin-Vineyard-2001-Red-Wine-Flatiron-SF.jpg?v=1793746309"},{"product_id":"marcassin-pinot-noir-blue-slide-ridge-vineyard-2006","title":"Marcassin Pinot Noir Blue Slide Ridge Vineyard 2006","description":"Marcassin sells about 90% of its wine through a mailing list that buyers can wait years to join, so a 2006 Pinot Noir with nearly two decades of age showing up on a shop shelf is worth a second look. This is Helen Turley's own house. She consulted for many acclaimed wineries before turning most of her attention to the label she owns with her husband, viticulturist John Wetlaufer. The name is French for \"young wild boar,\" which is a fitting name for a winery this hard to track down. Only 505 cases of this 2006 were made. Blue Slide Ridge is one of the neighbouring Sonoma Coast vineyards that Marcassin bottles by name. It's a six-acre site in the Fort Ross-Seaview area, planted only to Pinot Noir. The Martinelli family planted it in 1995 on well-drained Josephine and Goldridge clay loams. If you've only ever read about these wines, this is the easy way in: no waitlist, and the years of cellaring are already done.","brand":"Private [PRI]","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44125566271523,"sku":"SF-A-HDH1026-110226-21-4","price":349.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0044\/1208\/0163\/files\/Bottle-of-Marcassin-Pinot-Noir-Blue-Slide-Ridge-Vineyard-2006-Red-Wine-Flatiron-SF.jpg?v=1793746310"},{"product_id":"peter-michael-pinot-noir-clos-du-ciel-2011","title":"Peter Michael Pinot Noir Clos du Ciel 2011","description":"This is the fullest of Peter Michael's three Seaview Estate Pinot Noirs, from a cool, even-tempered year, the kind of season that pulled it toward what the winemakers themselves called a more \"European\" style. Clos du Ciel (\"In the Sky\") sits at about 1,350 feet on the first ridge in from the Pacific, in the Fort Ross–Seaview corner of the Sonoma Coast, and the ocean is less than a mile away. The coastal fog and cool afternoons keep ripening slow. It is still the southernmost and sunniest of the three Seaview Estate vineyards, though, and it usually makes the biggest wine of the trio. In 2011 a cool, wet spring held back bud break, and there were no heat spikes from fruit set through harvest. All that spring rain also meant the team could dry-farm the vines that year. Vines here were only planted in 2006 and the first wine came in 2009, so this is one of the earliest vintages from the site. At release the winemaker said it would gain from a couple of years in the cellar, and it has now had far longer than that. Pour it into a big glass and give it some air.","brand":"Private [PRI]","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44125566730275,"sku":"SF-A-HDH1026-110226-22-4","price":149.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0044\/1208\/0163\/files\/Bottle-of-Peter-Michael-Pinot-Noir-Clos-du-Ciel-2011-Red-Wine-Flatiron-SF.jpg?v=1793746311"},{"product_id":"peter-michael-pinot-noir-ma-danseuse-2011","title":"Peter Michael Pinot Noir Ma Danseuse 2011","description":"This is Peter Michael's most elegant Pinot Noir, from a cool, even year that the winery itself calls more \"European\" in style. Ma Danseuse comes from the coolest, northernmost blocks of the estate's Fort Ross-Seaview vineyard: steep east- and northeast-facing slopes at 1,000–1,500 feet, one valley in from the Sonoma coastline, where marine air pushes up the Gualala River canyon over clay, silt and volcanic gravels. In 2011 a cool, wet spring delayed bud break, and then the weather stayed mild right through a hand harvest in late September, with no heat spikes. The spring rains were heavy enough that the vines could be dry farmed, and the wine was bottled unfined and unfiltered in February 2013. The name means \"my dancer.\" Sir Peter named it for Lady Michael, a gold-medal ballroom dancer he met while taking judo classes in London across the lane from her dance school (she thought him rather pushy, but she loved to dance). If you think California Pinot has to be big and ripe, this bottle argues otherwise, and at more than a decade old it's a good chance to see how that restraint ages.","brand":"Private [PRI]","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44125566861347,"sku":"SF-A-HDH1026-110226-23-4","price":149.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0044\/1208\/0163\/files\/Bottle-of-Peter-Michael-Pinot-Noir-Ma-Danseuse-2011-Red-Wine-Flatiron-SF.jpg?v=1793746313"},{"product_id":"caymus-vineyards-cabernet-sauvignon-1981","title":"Caymus Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon 1981","description":"This is a rare look at Caymus in its early days: a 1981 Cabernet Sauvignon made less than a decade after Chuck Wagner and his parents opened the winery in Rutherford with just 240 cases. Back then the three of them worked side by side. Chuck and his father Charlie pruned the vines with shears bearing their initials, and they ate lunches Lorna Wagner made for them. Chuck was 19 when his parents asked him to go \"all in\" on a commercial winery, and the Wagners had already been farming in Napa since the 1850s. Caymus is still 100% family-owned, and the next generation is now taking on the farming and winemaking, so this bottle comes from the start of a story that's still running. If you know the modern Caymus style, an older bottle from these years makes a fascinating comparison. As with any wine of this age, stand it upright for a day before opening and decant it gently.","brand":"Private [PRI]","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44125568335907,"sku":"SF-A-HDH1026-110226-29-8","price":199.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0044\/1208\/0163\/files\/Bottle-of-Caymus-Vineyards-Cabernet-Sauvignon-1981-Red-Wine-Flatiron-SF.jpg?v=1793746320"},{"product_id":"caymus-vineyards-cabernet-sauvignon-1984-base-neck","title":"Caymus Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon 1984 (Base Neck)","description":"This Cabernet Sauvignon comes from 1984, the year Chuck Wagner took charge of all the farming and winemaking at Caymus. It's the regular Napa Cabernet, not the Special Selection, and the fill sits at the base of the neck, which is a good sign for a bottle this old. Chuck and his parents, Lorna and Charlie Sr., opened the winery in 1972 with 240 cases of Cabernet, after asking a 19-year-old Chuck to go \"all in\" with them. In those early days he and his father pruned the vines with shears bearing their initials and ate lunches Lorna made for them. The family's Napa roots go back much further, to Lorna's Glos and Stice ancestors making wine in the valley in 1858. Even the name is local history: it comes from Rancho Caymus, a 19th-century Mexican land grant. If you only know modern Caymus, this bottle shows you where it started. As with any wine this age, stand it upright for a day before opening and decant it gently.","brand":"Private [PRI]","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44125568991267,"sku":"SF-A-HDH1026-110226-31-B-6","price":169.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0044\/1208\/0163\/files\/Bottle-of-Caymus-Vineyards-Cabernet-Sauvignon-1984-Base-Neck-Red-Wine-Flatiron-SF.jpg?v=1793746323"},{"product_id":"caymus-vineyards-cabernet-sauvignon-1986-base-neck","title":"Caymus Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon 1986 (base neck)","description":"This is a rare chance to drink Caymus from its early chapter: a 1986 Napa Cabernet Sauvignon (the regular bottling, not the Special Selection), with the wine sitting at the base of the neck, a reassuring fill for a bottle this old. Caymus was only fourteen years old that year. Chuck Wagner and his parents, Lorna and Charlie Sr., opened the winery in 1972 with 240 cases of Cabernet, after his parents asked a 19-year-old Chuck to go \"all in\" with them. By 1984 Chuck had taken charge of all the farming and winemaking. In those days he and his father pruned the vines with shears stamped with their initials, and ate lunches Lorna packed for them. The family's Napa roots go back much further, to Glos and Stice ancestors growing grapes in the valley in 1858. Even the name is local history: it comes from Rancho Caymus, a 19th-century Mexican land grant. If you only know Caymus from recent vintages, this bottle shows you where it all began. As with any wine this age, no two bottles are quite the same, and that's part of the fun.","brand":"Private [PRI]","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44125569024035,"sku":"SF-A-HDH1026-110226-32-B-8","price":199.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0044\/1208\/0163\/files\/Bottle-of-Caymus-Vineyards-Cabernet-Sauvignon-1986-base-neck-Red-Wine-Flatiron-SF.jpg?v=1793746325"},{"product_id":"pahlmeyer-red-wine-1991","title":"Pahlmeyer Red Wine 1991","description":"This is Pahlmeyer from the beginning: Randy Dunn made it, and the fruit came from Caldwell Vineyard, where the whole Pahlmeyer story started with a suitcase. Jayson Pahlmeyer was a trial lawyer who arrived in Napa with Bordeaux vine cuttings he'd smuggled in. In 1981 he and his friend John Caldwell quietly planted them on Caldwell's property in Coombsville. The fruit got noticed, and Dunn agreed to make Pahlmeyer's first Proprietary Red, the 1986, in exchange for access to it. The 1991 comes from that same early partnership. It was made years before Pahlmeyer planted its own mountain vineyard in the late 1990s. It's a Cabernet Sauvignon-led blend (85%) that uses all five classic Bordeaux grapes, with Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and a splash of Malbec. If you want to know how one of Napa's most talked-about names got started, this mature bottle is a great place to begin. Stand it upright for a day and decant it gently.","brand":"Private [PRI]","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44125569122339,"sku":"SF-A-HDH1026-110226-33-8","price":159.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0044\/1208\/0163\/files\/Bottle-of-Pahlmeyer-Red-Wine-1991-Red-Wine-Flatiron-SF.jpg?v=1793746326"},{"product_id":"silver-oak-cabernet-sauvignon-alexander-valley-1991","title":"Silver Oak Cabernet Sauvignon Alexander Valley 1991","description":"This is Silver Oak from the Justin Meyer years: a 1991 Alexander Valley Cabernet that the winery retasted in February 2021 and judged ready to enjoy now. Meyer co-founded Silver Oak with Ray Duncan in 1972, starting out in a dairy barn in Oakville, with the idea of focusing on a single varietal. He didn't retire until 2001, so this bottle comes from his era. He preferred Alexander Valley's soft, velvety style to the more tannic Napa Cabernets. The 1991 is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon at a modest 13.6% alcohol. After three decades it has moved into the savory, cedar-and-leather stage that people cellar Cabernet to reach, and it still has fresh acidity. There's light sediment, so stand the bottle up and decant it gently before serving.","brand":"Private [PRI]","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44125569679395,"sku":"SF-A-HDH1026-110226-34-6","price":129.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0044\/1208\/0163\/files\/Bottle-of-Silver-Oak-Cabernet-Sauvignon-Alexander-Valley-1991-Red-Wine-Flatiron-SF.jpg?v=1793746328"},{"product_id":"staglin-family-vineyard-cabernet-sauvignon-estate-1994","title":"Staglin Family Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Estate 1994","description":"A mature Rutherford Bench Cabernet from ground with real Napa pedigree: before the Staglins arrived, André Tchelistcheff pulled out a prune orchard here and planted vines for Beaulieu's Georges de Latour Private Reserve. Shari and Garen Staglin founded the estate in 1985 with Brandon and Shannon, and they worked closely with Tchelistcheff himself, so this 1994 Estate bottling comes from the family's first decade on the property. The site sits on an alluvial fan of volcanic soils at the foot of the western slopes of Mount St. John, the tallest peak in the Mayacamas Range. Its history goes back to 1864, when John and Mary Steckter bought the original 367-acre parcel. (The Staglins bought that original house back in 2007 and joined it to the vineyard again.) This isn't a bottle for showing off. Buy it to see what three decades do to Cabernet from one of Napa's classic pieces of land. Stand it upright a day before opening and pour carefully, because older reds often throw sediment.","brand":"Private [PRI]","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44125570203683,"sku":"SF-A-HDH1026-110226-37-6\/8","price":159.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0044\/1208\/0163\/files\/Bottle-of-Staglin-Family-Vineyard-Cabernet-Sauvignon-Estate-1994-Red-Wine-Flatiron-SF.jpg?v=1793746330"},{"product_id":"charles-krug-cabernet-sauvignon-vintage-selection-1978-base-neck","title":"Charles Krug Cabernet Sauvignon Vintage Selection 1978 (Base Neck)","description":"This is a chance to taste a 1978 Cabernet from Napa Valley's oldest winery, and the fill still reaches the base of the neck, which is about as good as it gets for a bottle this old. Charles Krug was founded in 1861, and in 1882 it opened what the winery calls California's first tasting room. The Mondavi family bought the estate in 1943 and has made Cabernet Sauvignon there since 1944. Vintage Selection is the Cabernet the family has chosen to keep, year after year. Their own collection goes back to that first 1944 and was built in honour of patriarch Peter Mondavi Sr., and the winery considers it the oldest collection of Cabernet in Napa Valley. This 1978 belongs to that same line, made during the family's ownership. Mature Napa Cabernet from the 1970s rarely turns up, and opening one is the only way to find out what these wines became. Stand the bottle upright for a day before serving, then decant it gently to leave any sediment behind.","brand":"Private [PRI]","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44125573414947,"sku":"SF-A-HDH1026-110226-51-B-6","price":299.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0044\/1208\/0163\/files\/Bottle-of-Charles-Krug-Cabernet-Sauvignon-Vintage-Selection-1978-Base-Neck-Red-Wine-Flatiron-SF.jpg?v=1793746348"}],"url":"https:\/\/sf.flatiron-wines.com\/collections\/11-5-26-offer-beautifully-cellared-napa-valley-benchmarks.oembed","provider":"Flatiron SF","version":"1.0","type":"link"}