2023 Napa Valley: A Vintage for the Ages
Wines from the 2023 vintage in Napa Valley are truly special. The exceptionally cool growing conditions—at least by recent standards—and long, stable fall harvest allowed for consistent, gradual ripening up and down the valley. Persistent cooler-than-average temperatures slowed ripening to a crawl, causing some anxiety among grape growers as projected harvest dates kept getting pushed further and further back. However, September and October progressed without any dramatic heat spikes, rain events, or major wildfire threats.
Throughout the region, grapes were picked as and when winemakers wanted them, at perfect physiological ripeness, with beautifully developed flavors and moderate sugar levels. Many winemakers felt the vintage marked a return to the “old normal” after a decade or more in which so many harvests were impacted by extreme heat, drought, or wildfire smoke. All the nervousness about the slow pace of ripening quickly turned to excitement as pristine fruit made its leisurely trot into the wineries and winemakers recognized the quality of the raw material they had to work with.
Across the vintage releases so far, the wines show wonderful purity of fruit, classic varietal character, powerful structure, and an excellent balance of richness and natural acidity. Many have enough mid-palate fruit and polish to be enjoyed young, yet 2023 will also be a vintage with exceptional aging potential for those with deep cellars and patience. The consistency of quality also makes it a great vintage to explore up and down the price spectrum. With so much outstanding fruit available, many of the more affordable wines seriously deliver the goods. When quality is so high that winemakers have a tough time deciding which barrels to declassify, the consumer ultimately wins, with single-vineyard-level quality trickling down into broader AVA blends.
Another aspect of the 2023 vintage that works in the consumer’s favor is the ongoing downward pressure on wine prices, which has prompted even some of Napa Valley’s most renowned producers to lower their SRPs. Notably, Dominus Estate launched its incredible, multi-100-point 2023 at a lower price than previous releases. Others have followed suit by freezing price points or even lowering them. It’s a rare combination: an exceptional-quality vintage paired with more favorable pricing. No complaints from me!
I took a look through our current inventory and picked out a handful of wines that I think really illustrate the quality of the vintage across a range of price points. But honestly, 2023 is a very safe vintage across the board for quality, and one you will most certainly want in your cellar , 10, or even 20 years down the road.
2023 Faust Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon $49.95 96JS Year in year out, one of the best value bottles of wines in Napa Valley. Faust’s Napa Cab is largely built around fruit from their CCOF organic estate in the heart of Coombsville. Sitting at the cool end of the valley, moderated by almost constant breezes off San Pablo Bay and persistent morning fog, wines from Coombsville have plenty of freshness, varietal character, and a good structural backbone for aging. The volcanic soils from this ancient caldera also seem to impart a core of minerality to the wines. The 2023 edition of Faust is top notch building on their reputation as one of the benchmarks for this region. Mulberry, blackcurrant, subtle mint, graphite, iron, bramble, hints of exotic oak spice. Fine but notable tannins, vibrant lift and freshness. Very food friendly. Approachable now, but the best is still yet to come.
Turnbull, Leopoldina Vineyard
2023 Turnbull “Estate” Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon $49.95 93JD Turnbull is always near the top of my list for best-value, over-delivering Napa Cabernet. The magic here is that this wine is entirely estate-grown from Turnbull’s four exceptional vineyards in Oakville and Calistoga. It combines Oakville valley floor fruit from Turnbull Estate and Fortuna Vineyard, fruit from the east Oakville hills at Leopoldina Vineyard, and a portion from Turnbull’s Amoenus Vineyard in Calistoga. These are world-class sites that have sold fruit to the likes of Maybach, Myriad, Carter, and others.
Winemaker Peter Heitz has his pick of the blocks and consistently delivers a bold, powerful, deeply satisfying Cabernet. The Turnbull Cab is never short on intensity, but what I especially love is the more restrained oak profile. Peter prefers to use large-format puncheons for much of the élevage, resulting in more elegant, less invasive oak integration. This wine is very hard to beat for the money.
2023 Dominus “Napanook” Napa Valley Bordeaux Blend $79.95 97JS This is a classic example of a “second wine” that massively over-delivers. The exceptionally quality-focused team at Dominus decided not to release any wines from the 2022 vintage after the dramatic 118°F heat dome event severely impacted the fruit. Thankfully, the historic Napanook property appears to have had a dream vintage in 2023, with the team relaying that just about every parcel harvested from the estate was of high enough quality to make the cut for the top-tier Dominus bottling.
This is truly the best Napanook bottling I’ve seen in the past decade, and it shares many of the hallmarks of this First Growth–caliber estate: poise, depth, structure, and unmistakable pedigree.
2023 Familiar Air Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon $89.95 96JD 96TWP Back after a long absence, Familiar Air is a bottling I’m thrilled to see on our shelves again. Made by the supremely talented Tony Biagi, this wine is a tour de force of polished, powerful, modern Napa Cabernet. Sourced from exceptional vineyards including Montagna on Pritchard Hill and Oakville Ranch in the east Oakville hills, this is a cult Cab killer for under $90.
Serve this blind alongside Dalla Valle, Materium, Colgin, and the like, and I’d be willing to bet this wine holds up without issue. Deep, luxurious, and impressively complete, Familiar Air delivers serious Napa pedigree at a remarkably sharp price.
2023 Baker & Hamilton Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon $Hidden Price 96JS 95DC Once again, in a strong vintage like 2023, the deals savvy shoppers can find on “second wines” are simply unreal. Baker & Hamilton is the second wine of Vine Hill Ranch, one of the great properties of Oakville. The site sits right next to Dominus, Harlan, Ulysses, and Blankiet, on a perfect alluvial fan of gravel spilling down from the Mayacamas Mountains onto the western Oakville bench.
The wine is made by François Peschon, one of the most talented and pedigreed winemakers in the valley. Every year at Premiere Napa Valley, Vine Hill Ranch is one of my hands-down favorite wines, even against competition from some of the most famous labels in the business. The quality of this terroir is undeniable.
Baker & Hamilton has always been a stunning deal, but right now we have an even better Insider’s Advantage price that is too low to publish here. It’s just a click away.
2023 Nickel & Nickel “John C. Sullenger Vineyard” Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon $89.95 96WA 95JD 95JS I’m a huge fan of the Nickel & Nickel wines. These are bottlings rooted in Nickel & Nickel and Far Niente’s deep investment in exceptional vineyards throughout Napa Valley. The John C. Sullenger Vineyard sits in the heart of Oakville, right next to the Nickel & Nickel winery, across HWY 29 from To Kalon, and right next door to Opus One. This site consistently produces Cabernet with classic Oakville depth, richness, and polish.
Winemaker Joe Harden does an outstanding job crafting wines that faithfully reflect the diverse terroirs Napa has to offer through the lens of Cabernet Sauvignon. The Sullenger bottling is always one of the most immediately appealing in the lineup, marrying plush dark fruit, refined tannins, and beautifully integrated oak. In 2023, with the vintage’s purity and long, even ripening season, this wine is especially compelling.
2023 Favia Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon $149.95 98DC 98JS In 2023, Andy Erickson and Annie Favia decided to bottle a broader Napa Valley AVA wine, combining selected lots of their Coombsville estate fruit with Oakville estate fruit. The result, in my opinion, gets you about 95% of the way to their $250 single-AVA bottlings with a significantly more approachable price tag.
It seems the critics agree, as the inaugural release of this wine quickly picked up two 98-point scores. This bottling combines the talents of one of the best viticulturists in the valley, Annie Favia, with a superstar cult winemaker in Andy Erickson, and does so without compromise. At this price point, all things considered, it represents a seriously compelling opportunity. Bravo, guys—fantastic wine.
Dominus
2023 Dominus Napa Valley Bordeaux Blend $249.95 100JA 100TWP 97JD 96VN As I mentioned in the introduction to this article, I was pleasantly surprised when Dominus released their 2023 bottling at a lower price than the 2021. Seemingly reading the broader economic trends and the particular “moment” our industry is experiencing, I think it was an incredibly smart move on their part. Right away, we saw increased demand for the wine.
As for quality, I think this is as good as any young Dominus I’ve ever encountered. The vintage played perfectly into the hands of this estate: a long, cool growing season, modest yields, and no overwhelming heat spikes. The drawn-out ripening period helped create a complex, layered, elegant Dominus that will continue to stand as one of the benchmark wines of the vintage for decades to come.
2023 Spottswoode “Estate” Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon $289.95 100WA 100TWP 99JS 98DC 98JD 98VN Oh, Spottswoode. These guys can do no wrong in my eyes. I absolutely love the wines from this small but mighty vineyard in St. Helena. The elegance and understated power of this wine are something to behold.
Like Dominus, I think this vintage played directly to Spottswoode’s strengths, and the result may be one of their best-ever releases. It has the purity, balance, and structure to be a likely 50-year wine. This is Cabernet defined by grace rather than excess: refined, layered, deeply expressive, and built on impeccable farming and winemaking. Not cheap, but worth every cent. Purity, elegance, and class personified.