2016 Laz Wine Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 750 ml

There are Napa Valley insider wines, and then there’s the Laz Cabernet Sauvignon. Crafted by über-cult winemaker Celia Welch, the 2016 Laz Cabernet recently starred as one of the wines served at The French Laundry’s 25th anniversary party, and is so exclusive that you can only get it at two other places: Napa’s legendary Mustards restaurant, and Press in St. Helena, home of the Valley’s deepest wine list. Both are within a 20-minute drive of Wine Access HQ.
 
So when the 2016 Laz hit our office in Napa, it did so in dramatic fashion: Eduardo marched in, ecstatic, carrying an already opened (naturally) bottle, and announcing to the room: “Just another killer cult Cabernet from Celia Welch!”
 
We’re no different than anyone else in the wine world: When we hear the name Celia Welch—she’s the Food & Wine magazine Winemaker of the Year behind Corra, and has also made wine at Staglin, Keever, Barbour, and Signorello—we drop what we’re doing and grab the closest polished Bordeaux stems. Within a minute, the desks were abandoned, and everyone was gathered around to taste 2016 Laz, which (as Wine Advocate puts it) “comes strutting out of the glass with bold notions of charcuterie, garrigue, tobacco leaf, eucalypt and wood smoke,” around a core of cassis and black fruit. 
 
Strutting is right. The Laz 2016 Cabernet shows an intense dark core with a ruby layer on the rim, and the aromas just explode: Fresh and dried purple flowers lead into a rich mix of freshly picked red berries, laden with cocoa and incense. A generous mouthfeel deepens into layers and layers of freshly roasted espresso and graphite, then gives way to a long, structured, and elegant finish.  
 
This is the kind of cult-quality Cabernet that made Celia Welch a household name among Napa Cabernet collectors, and only 125 cases were produced—less than the sellout 2015. They’re sure to go fast.
 
A few years ago, when we found out Kerrin Laz was producing a wine, we had no doubt it would be great. Kerrin’s not just the former wine director for Dean & Deluca International, but a dedicated philanthropist who has raised over $2.3M for Alzheimer’s research and was recently nominated for Wine Enthusiast’s Social Visionary of the Year award. Knowing the passion she puts into everything she does, plus her dedication to California wines, we knew Kerrin would cut no corners in her pursuit of excellence, and would knock this project out of the park.
 
Not cutting corners is one thing. Enlisting Celia Welch—who is behind some of the most in-demand cult wines in Napa Valley history—is another, and by signing her up as winemaker, Kerrin essentially declared her intention to make a wine that stands alongside the greatest of Napa Valley, bar none. Simply put, there are only a handful of winemaker names in Napa Valley that evoke a hushed reverence—and Celia Welch is one of them.  
 
The 2016 Laz is composed of 94% Cabernet Sauvignon, with Merlot and Petit Verdot, all sourced from prestigious sites located in Napa Valley’s Oakville, Rutherford, Coombsville and Yountville AVAs. Fermented on the skins for 23 days, aged in 60% new French oak for 20 months, then bottled unfined and unfiltered, this is assertive, rich, cult-quality Cabernet from one of the winemakers that invented the category.