2018 Chad Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 750 ml

From 2008 to 2010, as even the most prized Napa Valley wineries in Rutherford and Oakville hunkered down and waited to rebound from the Great Recession, Chad treated the Wine Access cognoscenti to a series of magnificent Cabernet Sauvignons, priced at a small fraction of winery SRPs.  

As you may recall, even as Chad provided plenty of clues as to the neighborhood from which those Cabernets were drawn, the young winemaker was careful not to identify the winery or winemaker names. Now, with so many Napa Valley balance sheets drenched in red ink, Chad is once again in the driver’s seat. Never more so than today.

This is what we know: The 2018 CHAD Cabernet Sauvignon was purchased from one of Oakville’s most historic names. While Chad offered few insights, he did tell us unequivocally that this ultra-concentrated, fabulously sophisticated Cabernet from the stunning 2018 vintage was grown a hop, skip, and a jump from the Oakville Crossroad.

Compared to $95 per bottle under a far more prestigious label, CHAD’s 2018 is a steal at just $34. 

This is Chad at the Crossroad

Our appointment with Chad was set for July 28 at 11 am. Again, we met outside the St. Helena Coffee Roaster, as we have so many times before. But this time was different. We must have looked like something right out of a Lone Ranger episode: three men in black masks, seemingly making a beeline to the Umpqua Bank at the corner of Hope and Main.  

But while we surely seemed to be up to no good, our mission wasn’t at all sinister. We had come to ask questions of the young winemaker, hoping and expecting that he'd be forthcoming. As it turned out, we’d set our expectations far too high.

Chad is always high strung, but as we sauntered down Main Street, he was downright unsettled, his voice jittery, displaying a high sense of urgency.

“I’ve got something big,” he said. “Bigger than big. But this time we don’t have time for a game of 20 questions. I’ve never pressed you guys before, but I’m literally at the crossroad. I’ll tell you all I can about the Cabernet. I’ll send you my tasting notes. I have a half-hour. In thirty minutes, I need a yes or no. If yes, it’s all yours. If not, I’m sorry guys, but I’ll have to make another call.”

We listened. And this is what we were told.

The 2018 vintage was spectacular in Napa Valley, but otherworldly in the narrowest, most priceless section of the valley floor: the rock-strewn Cabernet Sauvignon rows of Oakville. Growers were treated to an extended growing season, allowing the icons of the Oakville Crossroad to pick at their leisure, harvesting fabulously concentrated small-berry bunches with little or no trace of desiccation.

Perhaps even more remarkable than the outstanding quality was the quantity. For the first time in almost a decade, yields were strong, leaving many with more fruit than they had space to hold it.  

At 11:25, Chad cut to the chase. “I have 300 cases. Take it or leave it.”

Given the ultimatum, this was no time for a gunfight. We took it all.

$95 per bottle under a far more collectible label. $34 today under CHAD, exclusively on Wine Access. You make the call.