2016 Tesseron Estate Pym-Rae Mount Veeder Napa Valley 750 ml

Think of Harlan Estate. Think of Bond and Hundred Acre. Think of the few Napa Valley red wines that, guided by ambitious vintners and sourced from singular terroirs, have become undisputed California classics and worldwide cellar must-haves. 

Today’s 2016 Pym-Rae Proprietary Red Mount Veeder is the inaugural vintage of a wine that is sure to claim a place in the world’s Cabernet pantheon. It’s the synthesis of the 100-point pedigree of Château Pontet-Canet proprietor Alfred Tesseron and a spectacular and unique Napa mountain vineyard site. The result is stunning. 

The 2016 Pym-Rae received one of the most auspicious debut receptions we can recall: 97 points from Wine Advocate, which called it “evocatively singular, offering that rock-solid structure of mountain fruit” with “wonderfully ripe, silt-like tannins that beautifully support the elegant red and black fruit layers.” Of the iconic wines that our first sips of Pym-Rae evoked, only Harlan Estate and Screaming Eagle turned in more impressive debuts. They’re now two of the most sought after wines in the world.  

We tasted Pym-Rae alongside 99- and 100-point bottlings of Tesseron’s Château Pontet-Canet, and it stood out, even among its Bordelaise siblings. It’s dark ruby with complex aromas of black currant and blackberry compote carrying cigar box and savory dried herbs along with spices, mint, and pipe tobacco. This first-ever bottling is a muscular but graceful picture of a one-of-a-kind mountain terroir. Pym-Rae comes from steep hillsides composed of sedimentary limestone, which yield a red wine of freshness, elegance, structure, and finely textured tannins that make it fit for a cellar life alongside your Bordeaux First Growths and cult Cabernets.  

We’re hoping that in a decade or two, your California Cabernet collection features a vertical of Alfred Tesseron’s Pym-Rae, and the very first bottle is one that you got from Wine Access. Because today it’s an exceptional California red wine with a peerless pedigree. But in the future, you’ll see it as the one that started it all. 

The Tesserons are not prone to rash decisions. After 70 years in the cognac business, they purchased Bordeaux estate Château Pontet-Canet in 1975. Since then, under Alfred’s leadership (he took over in 1994), the estate has grown to rival the First Growths, tallying two perfect scores from Wine Advocate since 2009. That result is no mystery. Alfred summed up his ethos when we visited him: “Throughout history farmers have been laboring, innovating, to get the most fruit possible from their land,” he told us. “All that interests me is what we need to do to get the best quality.”

He has brought that attitude to Pym-Rae, which was named after former owner Robin Williams’ two children. Alfred laughed as he told us about the unexpected purchase. “I thought I would buy a large vineyard on the valley floor,” he said as he poured Pym-Rae alongside his top Bordeaux bottlings. “Instead, I bought a small vineyard high in the mountains, where it’s very…” He held his arm at a slant as he searched for the word en anglais. “Steep!”

Once you look out on Pym-Rae, you can see why he was moved to claim this property. It’s remote and rugged, and the steep sedimentary hillsides are home to vines that were planted in 1990 and put forth miniscule yields of exquisitely concentrated fruit. Just like at Pontet-Canet, the vineyard is farmed biodynamically, and all the work is performed by hand—the harvesting, the sorting, and de-stemming (and the winemaker is Thomas Comme, son of Pontet-Canet’s Jean-Michel Comme). The wines are fermented in low custom-made vats that facilitate manual punchdowns, which allow the wine’s muscular ripe fruit flavors and refined tannins to be carefully extracted. 

The result of Pym-Rae’s special terroir, treated with a Grand Cru Classé-level commitment to quality, is a wine that stands apart and above in its very first vintage. Claim your bottle, and don’t hesitate to put it next to the finest wines in your collection. After one sip, you’ll know it belongs.