This is a throwback Cabernet to yesteryear, a wine of extreme quality for the price point that should make the elites of Napa Valley take note. The 2022 Pilcrow “Glass Rock” surpasses most single-site Cabs on the market that command $175.00 to $250.00 a bottle, offering a level of structural integrity and soul rarely seen in the modern era. Well-received by Lisa Perrotti-Brown of The Wine Independent and Jonathan Cristaldi of Decanter Magazine, this debut release from the seven-acre Glass Rock site in Coombsville is already being hailed as a benchmark release—a compelling case study in what is possible when you prioritize elegance over extract.

Sara and Jonah Beer founded Pilcrow with a simple but radical mission: to revive the quiet, soulful Cabernet style that defined Napa’s golden era from the 1960s through the 1980s. Their commitment to freshness and place is driven by a unique regenerative farming approach outlined by Cristaldi, utilizing dry-farming, no-till, and non-hedging methods. The vineyard is an organic mosaic of silica-rich rock, featuring red jasper, white quartz, and multi-colored agate, and is home to over-wintering cows and dedicated habitat corridors. This unwavering dedication to minimal intervention ensures that the low alcohol and minimal new oak serve only to amplify the wine’s profound sense of place.

Through these meticulous methods, the Beers have managed to get Doc Brown’s DeLorean to 88 miles per hour, landing us back in 1955 with a wine that feels purely timeless. Clocking in at 12.9% alcohol with savory acidity and a balance between crunchy fruit, salty stones, and earthen flavors, this is a wine that would be instantly recognized by the old masters who helped define the Napa Valley. It is built for the long haul; while it shows beautifully after a 90-minute decant (and even better the next day), we highly recommend picking up a six-pack to chart its soulful evolution over the next 10 years.

Cheers and taste well!

Critical Acclaim:

95-97 Points, The Wine Independent

“Deep purple-black in color, it sails out of the glass with energetic notes of redcurrant jelly and freshly crushed blackcurrants followed by hints of violets, wild sage, crushed rocks, and damp soil plus a hint of mossy tree bark. The light to medium-bodied palate is bright and crunchy, with firm, grainy tannins and a lively line of wonderfully refreshing acidity, finishing with great length and a real skip in its step.” - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, MW

95 Points, Decanter Magazine

“From a dry-farmed, organically grown, non-hedged, no-till vineyard that sits along the stair-step of another nested megaslide. The soils offer a geological mosaic of silica-rich rock—ranging from red jasper to white quartz to multi-coloured agate. Over-wintering cows and dedicated habitat corridors make this site a model for truly regenerative farming. This marks the first release from the 7-acre Glass Rock site. After all the effort Jonah and Sara Beer have poured into its development, the wine in the glass is brilliantly vibrant—perfumed with lifted, ironstone-like minerality and crushed rock. On the palate, there’s a remarkable sense of fluidity and lift, yet with exceptional concentration of ripe fruit and impressive mid-palate density. The tannins are firm yet silky, and a subtle chocolatey, cocoa-powder note emerges, framed by grippy acidity that carries through more perfumed aromatics and pure fruit expression. In conversation with Jonah Beer, he says he likes his vines to live with a sense of urgency—enough struggle that they know what to do with that struggle. 'These vines demanded patience, holding off harvest until just after the heatwave, though you’d never know it,' he says. And he's correct. This wine is so fresh, so vibrant, it’s a benchmark for the 2022 vintage that other Napa producers ought to taste for themselves—a compelling case study in what’s possible with a different approach to farming.” - Jonathan Cristaldi