2015 Portfolio Limited Edition Cabernet Sauvignon Napa California 750 ml

Today’s offering goes far beyond blue-chip. The Portfolio Limited Edition Cabernet Sauvignon reaches the pinnacle of Napa Valley excellence, which I’m thrilled to share exclusively with Wine Access Cabernet collectors today. 

To cellar a bottle of this is to steward the legacy of Napa. Over several decades, Geneviève studied under Robert Mondavi himself, developing her palate and winemaking acumen from the man who arguably redefined the Napa Valley. Serving as Mondavi’s proverbial right hand, she shepherded his namesake winery and crafted the legendary wines of Opus One. Few winemakers can rival her experience and mastery when it comes to Cabernet Sauvignon. 

Year after year, Portfolio becomes harder to find and a must-have in my personal cellar. Only 250 cases were hand-crafted by Geneviève (a Wine Enthusiast Winemaker of the Year) and, while most bottles were earmarked for the world’s best restaurants, she generously offered Wine Access members 14 cases of this pure Napa brilliance. I’ve already made space to my cellar, and hope you can make room in yours! Secure your share now. 

Contained in the 2015 is gold-standard fruit from two of the oldest, most pedigreed sources in the Valley, available today for $165: Cabernet Sauvignon from a single block of Hendry Ranch Vineyard and Cabernet Franc from To Kalon neighbor Detert East. The seamless 2015 delivers intense notes of black raspberry, cassis, blueberry, and blackberry layered with fresh earth, dark chocolate, espresso, and cigar box. It is plush, velvety, and endless. 

There could hardly be more pedigree in every bottle—even the label is hand-drawn, designed by artist and co-owner Luc Janssens, Geneviève’s husband. I’m thrilled to offer our (of course) limited allocation to Wine Access members today. 

Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate heaped praise on the 2015 Portfolio, writing, “It comes rolling out of the glass with a beautiful perfume of red roses, violets, and kirsch—lilacs and licorice,” while Wine Enthusiast called it “a celebratory bottling of classic complexity.” 

On September 5th, 2015, Geneviève made the call to hand-harvest Cabernet Franc from Detert East—planted in 1979, it is believed to be the oldest planting of the variety in Napa Valley. On September 18th, Cabernet Sauvignon from block #8 of Hendry Ranch—planted in 1974—was picked, perfectly ripened. 

From there, the grapes were transported in small 35lb containers—kept cool with the use of dry ice—to Geneviève and Luc’s personal winery, attached to their home in East Napa. Every grape was hand-sorted before destemming and crushing, then punched down multiple times a day by Geneviève herself. 

After an extended maceration, the wine went into 100% new French oak barrels— Taransaud, Radoux, Vicard and Seguin—where it rested for 18 months. The finished wine was then bottled by hand by Geneviève and Luc. From start to finish, a pump is never used once. The entire winemaking process takes place with the use of gravity to produce the purest and most pristine expression of some of Napa’s finest fruit. 

Wine Advocate summed it up aptly when they wrote, “The finished product just goes to show how much purity, vineyard expression and poise can be achieved even with the most basic equipment… when a highly knowledgeable and experienced winemaker is involved.” 

The 2015 Portfolio Limited Edition Cabernet Sauvignon is a work of art, exhibiting depth and elegance, power and sophistication, generosity and class. It is everything that is good and true about Napa Valley, crafted by one of its greatest. I’m incredibly proud to share it with you today.