Napa Valley, among the most competitive, high-entry wine markets in the entire world, is a place where a small handful of trophy bottles tend to dominate the scene. I don’t know about you, but I for one could use some gloriously delicious, terroir-expressive Napa Cab that doesn’t cost a small fortune and is ready to drink now. 

Enter Hoopes: Gone is the $100+ price tag, the “needs 10 years of cellaring” disclaimer, the glossy artifice of waitlists. This is, put simply, an organic, expertly crafted, deeply satisfying valley floor Cabernet. And the icing on top is that, at just $55, Hoopes offers the immediacy of Napa luxury without overspending. Cab lovers, there’s no excuse not to load up: everyone benefits from a wine like Hoopes!

Spencer Hoopes moved his family from San Francisco to Napa Valley’s Oakville in 1981. It might not sound like that long ago, but Napa was a wildly different place back then. It was still largely an agricultural community in which wine grapes were simply one of many crops. But Spencer took the advice of a neighbor who suggested he plant some Cabernet Sauvignon, which turned out to be perhaps the savviest neighborly advice ever given. Over the next three decades, Oakville became the epicenter of the “Cult Cab” phenomenon, counting among its residents distinguished names such as Screaming Eagle, Opus One, and Harlan. Spencer planted his new vineyard with so-called “suitcase clones,” Cabernet of undefined genetics sourced from some of the great châteaux of Bordeaux.

The Hoopes’ originally made their name by selling their organically-farmed Cabernet to these esteemed producers. When Spencer’s daughter Lindsay left her job in San Francisco to take over the family vineyards in 2012, she breathed whole new life into the already distinguished property. She began working with vineyards in Yountville, introduced regenerative farming at the home winery, and even opened an on-site animal sanctuary. The winemaking is handled by Aaron Pott, a California native who happened to have worked under John Kongsgaard and Michel Rolland, all before becoming the director of Château La Tour Figeac in Saint-Émilion. 

The 2018 vintage was a spectacular growing season in Napa, warm but not overly so, and Hoopes’ interpretation beautifully encapsulates the vintage’s balance between generosity and poise. Nearly 30 months of aging in 40% new French oak also contributed to the wine’s impressively round and rich frame.  It pours an opaque, inky purple and bursts from the glass with sleek Napa Cab flavors of blackcurrant, blue plum, boysenberry, black cherry liqueur, lavender, cedar, pipe tobacco, vanilla bean, and espresso. The full-bodied palate is lush and powerfully enveloping but there’s a real sense of gracefulness thanks to a soft coating of tannin and just-right acidity. It’s an outrageously delicious indulgence for the here and now. Cheers!