2018 Scattered Peaks Cabernet Sauvignon Sage Ridge Vineyard Single Vineyard Selection Napa Valley 750 ml

Joel Aiken is a Napa Valley winemaking legend. Only the third head winemaker in Beaulieu Vineyard’s 124-year existence, he led the iconic winery for 27 harvests, working alongside luminaries like André Tchelistcheff and Michel Rolland.

Aiken created Scattered Peaks to showcase Cabernet Sauvignon from jewel-box mountaintop sites like the remote Sage Ridge Vineyard, near Pritchard Hill. A series of small plots on ridges high above St. Helena’s Lake Hennessey, Sage Ridge is planted with heritage Cabernet clones. The vineyard is treasured by stars like Russell Bevan and Donald Patz, and it’s where Aiken scored fruit for this 2018 stunner, from a vintage that Wine Spectator rated 99 points. 

Aiken’s humble presence belies an incredible career in wine. After getting his Masters from UC Davis, he found his way to Beaulieu Vineyards. In short order, at the callow age of 28, he was named winemaker and put in charge of every stage of production. It was here that he worked with the late, great André Tchelistcheff—the Russian born, French-trained winemaker that almost single-handedly re-created the winemaking culture of Napa Valley after Prohibition. 

“Scattered Peaks” is a surfing term, referring to when waves peak in different directions, just as they do on Sage Ridge’s powdery, metamorphic slopes, where intensely-flavored grapes ripen late. The chaparral-ringed mountain terroir has much in common with neighboring Pritchard Hill, the iconic source for Chappellet, Continuum Estate, and Ovid. 

Aiken’s 2018 Sage Ridge is made exclusively from 100% Clone 169 Cabernet Sauvignon, raised 22 months in 60% new French oak barrels. We recommend watching this unfurl over the next five to six years.