2018 Venge Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Missouri Hopper Vineyard Napa Valley 750 ml

Kirk Venge is Napa Valley royalty—he’s the son of the first American winemaker to earn a 100-point score from Robert Parker—but with Venge Vineyards, he’s long established his own name as one of the Valley’s most talented winemakers, a master whose bottles are coveted by collectors across the country.

His Missouri Hopper Cabernet is one of his flagship bottles, and the 2018 is one of his greatest ever. Made from one of Beckstoffer’s prized Heritage Vineyards, it’s bold, dramatic and powerful—the product of one of Napa’s great sites in one of its greatest-ever years.
The Missouri Hopper Vineyard was first planted well over a century ago by Yountville namesake George C. Yount in what’s now the heart of the Oakville AVA.  Ever since, it’s been renowned for the quality of the wines that come from there, which are filled with the intense dark fruit, spice, and lush tannins that are typical of the very best wines from the Oakville Bench.

2018 gave Venge a “picture-perfect” growing season, in the words of Wine Spectator, who thinks it’s the greatest year in the history of Napa. He took full advantage, using the warm fall weather to let the Cabernet grapes ripen to perfection, before fermenting them on their skins for a full 18–31 days, depending on the fermenter—he uses a mix of stainless steel, concrete, and wood vessels—for optimal extraction.

The dark purple wine then spent a luxurious 27 months in 100% new, tight-grained French oak from some of the greatest coopers in Europe, before getting bottled unfiltered. The result is a stunning bottle of Cab—one that any Napa enthusiast needs to try.