2015 Keever Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 750 ml

Consistently one of the most profound Napa Cabernet Sauvignons available, Keever Vineyards has remained remarkably under-the-radar despite its phenomenal terroir and superstar winemaking talent. As rare as it is exquisite, the super-allocated wine is made by a 100-point winemaker—whose flagship Rutherford wines typically cost four to six times the price of her 2015 Keever Cabernet (we’d name them but don’t want to receive another cease and desist). 

With five years of age on it, this bottle is drinking like a million bucks.

In his report on this vintage, “Brilliance in Napa Valley,” Vinous critic Antonio Galloni called the 2015 Keever Cabernet “a very beautiful wine.” It’s striking right out of the gate, with aromas of blackcurrant, blueberry, and blackberry supported by a symphony of toast, baking spice, tobacco, allspice, bitter chocolate, and violet. Firm and taut, this is loaded with muscular blackberry and loganberry character that evokes Keever's rocky hillside estate in the Mayacamas Mountains.

The resulting structure has a cerebral gravitas on the palate, with beautiful acidity, precision, and focus before finishing long on an intriguing note of five-spice. Gorgeous now, the tight tannins ensure this will age beautifully for another 15+ years.

We remember the day that the Wine Advocate predicted Keever’s success when it published, “I am quite confident this small, under the radar winery will soon find a larger audience.” Those words marked the end of Keever’s era as one of Napa Valley’s best-kept secrets (at least in industry circles). Since then, Keever Cabernet has become a mainstay on menus like The French Laundry in Napa and at Blue Ribbon and Del Frisco's in Manhattan, while Keever’s own wine club and mailing list clients snap up almost all the rest. Almost...

We’ve been loyal fans since shortly after the Yountville estate’s 2002 debut, in large part thanks to the power duo that has been making jaw-dropping Cabernets at Keever since day one. When word got out that the Keever family decided to plant the ultra-rare 191 and 341 Cabernet clones (alongside the more common clones 7 and 337), two of Napa’s most formidable winemaking talents—Jim Barbour and Celia Welch—came knocking.

As one of Napa Valley's leading viticulturists, Barbour farms the extraordinary Keever estate when he’s not tending vines for Hundred Acre, Revana, Grace Family, and Blankiet. 

Welch is one of the most sought-after winemakers in all of California. A three-time Parker 100-point winemaker, she’s known for her Midas touch with Cabernet, especially at Staglin and other wineries where her 2015 flagship wines command $800+. A former Winemaker of the Year from Food & Wine, it is exceptionally rare to find a wine she makes for under $200.

At Keever, Welch follows the same Cabernet recipe that’s earned her all those perfect scores. She’s a mastermind in the cellar, and at perfectly achieving a specific mouthfeel in the tank before pressing to barrel. It’s precisely that thrilling texture on the palate that Welch has made her signature, and which can be found in every sip of this commanding 2015 Keever. 

Bill and Olga Keever fell in love with wine when they lived in Europe in the 1990s, and their wines still reflect that old-world, terroir-driven elegance. In 1999, they purchased 21 acres in Yountville, planted six acres of Cabernet, and planned to settle into retirement. They didn’t expect their wines to develop such a massive underground following, but today, two decades after their first bottling, they are busier than ever. At 74 years old, Bill runs the forklift, and Olga jokes that under Welch she’s been “promoted to the second sorting table after the optical sorter.”

With only 600 cases made, we’re just grateful we still get an allocation—it pays to get in early on gorgeous Cabs like this before they become recognized for the collector discoveries they are, and that’s what we urge you to do—while this 2015 Keever Cabernet is still up for grabs.