2016 Provenance Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford Napa Valley 750 ml

If 80% of life is just showing up, today’s Rutherford Cabernet Steal of the Century was 100% just showing up—at one of our favorite Napa Valley lunch spots. 

A few months back, our weekly judging panel left us with an impressive array of Napa Cabernets, all three-quarters full. So we shoved them into a box, stashed them in the trunk (even Napa Valley has laws, you know) and headed up highway 29 to Rutherford Grill, the famed corkage-fee-free hub of the wine business. 

We settled into a booth and noticed that the group next to ours was deep into a tasting of their own, judging by the dozen or so bottles on the table. Needless to say, we peeked: Every one was from Provenance Vineyards, the stellar winery situated just a mile up the road, where it rubs shoulders with Rutherford heavyweights like Alpha Omega, Grgich, and Peju. We’ve long loved Provenance for the stunning quality they offer in the dwindling $60-and-under category—especially considering their blessed location and triple-digit neighbors—but offering one of their wines would be a Wine Access first.

Sur made the approach. The rest of us tried to eavesdrop, but it was useless in the din of the crowded restaurant. He came back quickly, sans business cards, sans bottles, so we assumed his sortie had been a flop... until ten minutes later. That’s when the crew next to us got up to leave, stopped at our table, dropped a Provenance business card in front of Sur—and an armload of bottles in front of the rest of us.  

We thanked them, shoved our bottles aside, and as our Hawaiian Ribeyes hit the table, we started to pour. With a smattering of Provenance bottlings from the stellar 2013-2016 vintages, we had the very best of the best—but none showed better than their 2016 Rutherford Cabernet. Opaque purple and leaving thick crimson tears with every swirl, it’s laden with blackberry, Bing cherry, crème de cassis, and raw chocolate accented with damp earth, vanilla, and mint. Bold black fruits at the center of the palate are surrounded by cedar plank and vanilla, finishing in a fine tannic grip softened by a few years in bottle. 

That 2016 was the first Cabernet we drained that day, the first one we asked about when we got in touch with Provenance, and the first one we’re bringing to Wine Access members. Considering the terroir and best-ever vintage, we’d be raving about how much Cabernet quality there is in this bottle for the money—at the $60 SRP. At today’s stunning deal of 52% off bottle, this might just be the Cabernet Deal of the Century. Straight from the cellars in Rutherford, this is perfect Provenance—with a capital P—like we’ve never offered before!

Provenance: We talk about it all the time, and at Provenance Vineyards, their whole philosophy is in the name. Their wines are all about displaying the source of the grapes, and the 2016 Rutherford Cabernet has a lot to show off. It’s sourced primarily from their Wildwood Estate vineyard, where the volcanic soil produces a complex and concentrated mountain-like Cabernet on the valley floor. Most of the balance comes from the famed Georges III Vineyard, which grew the grapes that established Beaulieu Vineyard as a Cabernet juggernaut in the 1960s and 70s.

Aged for 22 months in 35% new oak and now with a bit of bottle age, this Cabernet is showing beautifully right now. Provenance at full price stands as one of the best values in the Valley. For a wine from the all-time great ‘16 vintage at more than half off, this is a lightning strike deal that will disappear just that quickly.