Ask any prominent winemaker up and down the valley and they’ll know someone who’s benefitted from the Napa Wine Company. Their influence is truly staggering: For decades on end, they’ve sold their organic grapes to some of the finest labels imaginable and have provided a welcome space at their custom crush facility for fledgling-turned-superstar winemakers—they were even responsible for producing three of Wine Spectator’s “Top Ten Wines of the Year” in 1997! Quite frankly, Napa Valley wouldn’t be where it is today without Napa Wine Company’s presence. And yet, only a few in the world have tasted their own small-production wines, like today’s decades-old showpiece.
Here’s why: Instead of selling off their entire crop to outstretched hands in 2000, the Napa Wine Co. held back a scant percentage and crafted a proprietary bottling. The result after nearly 20 years of undisturbed evolution is a rare look into naturally farmed, resolutely traditional Cabernet Sauvignon. As you may have learned from our ‘98 and ‘96 offerings, fewer than 10 vintages were crafted under this micro-label, and you won’t find them retailing anywhere else. The handful of cases in our possession is all that’s left from the 2000 vintage, and it’s being directly released from the family’s private collection. We’ve learned that these mature and exceedingly rare Cabernets are perhaps the greatest price-to-quality in Napa, so don’t miss your only chance to obtain a few bottles!
Although Napa Wine Co has launched new brands (Ghost Block, most notably) and undergone expansion and administrative changes, their deep-reaching roots remain largely unchanged. As of today, the Napa Wine Company is the only remaining single-digit bonded winery in all of California—just let that sink in for a moment! What’s more, they are still family-owned, they still lend their crush facility to burgeoning winemakers, and they still farm every acre of their cherished Oakville and Yountville vines organically.
And then there’s the origin of this family, which begins like something out of a fairytale. In 1902, Joseph Pelissa left Liguria, Italy and emigrated to San Francisco. Shortly after, Joseph purchased 35 acres of land in Calistoga with a $10 gold coin, thus starting the grape-growing legacy that still thrives today. It was Joseph’s great-grandson, Andrew Hoxsey, who massively expanded vineyard acquisitions and ultimately helped facilitate the purchase of Napa Wine Company (est. 1877) in 1993. Andy, along with the Pelissa family, then began a complete renovation in order to establish the custom crush facility that is currently operating today. After speaking in-depth with Andrew (Andy) Hoxsey and his daughter last year, it was immediately clear the man is an encyclopedia brimming with decades of farm experience. He’s walked every row, dirtied his fingernails, and studied every aspect of biodiversity, organics, and viticulture to ensure his crop is always of the utmost quality. If we hadn’t been limited on time, we would’ve listened to him tell stories into the early hours of the morning.
For today’s 2000 bottling, a tiny percentage of their organic Cabernet crop from the highly sought-after “Rock Cairn” vineyard in Oakville and “Ghost Block” vineyard in Yountville was set aside and blended together to create their own bottling. Under the expert guidance of longtime winemaker Randy Mason, the wine was raised in a combination of new and used oak for approximately 20 months. Upon release, these wines flew out of their cellar, but they wisely held onto a small portion for further cellaring. Today’s offer represents the very last of that tranche, and it hasn’t moved from their cellars since bottling. We must reiterate: Since launching their Ghost Block label in 2006, there are no more of these old ‘Napa Wine Company’ bottles on the market—this is your only chance to secure today’s vinous relic!
This is what you want, but oftentimes don’t get, from mature Cabernet Sauvignon. What we’ve come to love in these old Napa Wine Company bottlings is that the nose and palate evoke the same elegance and class of Napa’s finest Cabernets from the ‘70s and ‘80s—a style, of course, that resulted in global recognition and enduring fame. After gently extracting the cork and serving in large Bordeaux stems, we suggest allowing the wine to open up for 5-10 minutes before taking a sip. It slowly unfurls with savory components like crushed gravel, cedar box, bell pepper, vanilla bean, dried herbs, leather, and forest floor but there’s also a lively core of dried plum, black raspberry, and black cherry too. You’ll find that the medium-plus bodied palate is resoundingly graceful and brimming with structured layers of earth and dried fruit—this is a Cabernet for purists and traditionalists! Enjoy over 2-3 hours and store your remaining bottles in a dark, cool place for consumption over the next five years. Cheers!
