2014 Salvestrin Cabernet Sauvignon LeBlanc Crystal Springs Vineyard St. Helena 750 ml

One of St. Helena’s Closely Guarded Secrets

This Napa Cabernet comes with our highest recommendation: In the heart of St. Helena, surrounded by all-star names like VGS Chateau Potelle, Heitz, Crocker & Starr, and the Beckstoffer Dr. Crane Vineyard lies Salvestrin winery, an under-the-radar Napa jewel Robert Parker called “a positive surprise” among his recent Napa Valley tastings.

Grown on the family’s Leblanc Crystal Springs Vineyard in St. Helena, the roots of these Cabernet vines spider deep into the volcanic rock, to produce an intense, densely packed, but highly focused and energetic Cab laden with black fruit and savory spices. 

This wine is not available to the public—not even from the winery. It was originally produced for the wine club and priced at $50 a bottle, a far cry from the triple-digit price tags of Salvestrin’s neighbors. But when third-generation vintner Rich Salvestrin held back this 2014 to give the wine’s formidable tannins a chance to soften, a few extra cases remained. Today, the Cabernet leaps from the glass with plum, cassis, and ripe blackberry, surrounded by exotic spices and tobacco notes, wrapped in rich tannins, and finishing with a hint of mocha and pie spice.

We persuaded Rich to share the remainder with Wine Access Cabernet aficionados looking for a new favorite Napa Cabernet, and we negotiated the exclusive last bottles. 

As Parker himself puts it, Salvestrin “is by no means a newcomer to the Napa Valley wine scene,” and their releases—which have scored up to 97 points in the Advocate—are closely guarded secrets for their combination of pedigree, terroir, and insane value their wines offer in the land of triple-digit-priced Cabernet.

Purchased in 1932 by John and Emma Salvestrin, the family’s St. Helena property is now farmed by the couple’s son and grandson. Several acres of manicured Cabernet Sauvignon even makes its way into one of the great cult Cabernets in the Valley.