The 2016 library Cab that stands with $600+ cults
- 98 pts Wine Advocate98 pts RPWA
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2016 Vineyard 29 Cabernet Sauvignon Aida Estate Vineyard St. Helena 750 ml
Retail: $295 | ||
| $160 | 46% off | per bottle |
- Curated by unrivaled experts
- Choose your delivery date
- Temperature controlled shipping options
- Get credited back if a wine fails to impress
How Is Vineyard 29 Still a Secret?
We’ve been enraptured by Vineyard 29’s extravagantly ripe Aida Estate Vineyard Cabernet for years—but the elites of Hollywood and Silicon Valley always got to this tiny-production cult favorite before we did. In fact, the first time we tasted this 2016 was about a year ago, when we helped a loyal customer secure a case.
We were fortunate to score this phenomenal wine, which Wine Advocate said “comes strutting out of the glass like a total rock star.” With its 98-point score, it stands with some of the $600+ cult wines of Napa Valley.
In 2000, Chuck and Anne McMinn purchased Vineyard 29, a St. Helena stronghold with a three-acre vineyard that had recently been planted with Grace Family cuttings by renowned viticulturist David Abreu. Almost coincidentally, they pulled the trigger a second time, securing one of the most coveted, rocky sites in primetime St. Helena, the famed Aida Vineyard.
The Aida Vineyard is legendary for its opulence. Prized for grape-growing since the 1920s, it was from this site that Larry Turley produced some of his most famous Zinfandels. Under the McMinn regime, the focus is on Cabernet, which thrives in the warm microclimate and well-draining hillsides. Parker himself has remarked: “I find the winemaking approach much more suitable to the estate’s Aida vineyard, a warm, early maturing site that tends towards richness.”
Reminiscent of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, the floor of the site is littered with stones that absorb heat and transfer energy and ripeness into the grapes. The root systems struggle to find purchase and water in these soils, driving plants to focus on producing magnificently concentrated fruit.