2018 Yesterday Cabernet Franc Napa Valley 750 ml

The source behind today’s wine has been called “Napa Valley Cheval Blanc” by Robert Parker, and Jancis Robinson compared their ultra-rare single-varietal Cabernet Franc to a cult wine. That’s about as much as we can say before the white-shoe lawyer attached to this deal gets out his red pen again.

People come to Napa Valley for Cabernet Sauvignon, but what remains less well known is how huge Cabernet Franc is here, too. Its name may not always grace the label, but it’s the scene-stealing player in iconic Napa Valley bottlings like Dalla Valle’s Maya. Napa vintners render the grape with precision, finesse, and cut, but as today’s bottling shows, it can flex statuesque power with the best of them. 

Harvested from vines on the steep, rocky slopes of Howell Mountain, it’s a small-lot cuvée that paints a powerful portrait of a legendary Napa vineyard and vintage.

The NDA-protected estate that produced this wine makes one of our favorite Cabernet Francs in Napa. Releasing it as a single-varietal bottling is their specialty, taking full advantage of the grape’s inherent terroir-transparency, which is arguably even greater than that of Cabernet Sauvignon. As one winemaker told us, thanks to its site sensitivity, Cabernet Franc is as close as a Bordeaux variety gets to Burgundy.

In sunny northern California, the variety maintains extraordinary aromatic complexity, supple grace, and juicy approachability while gaining a powerful, opulent frame. This particular release comes from one of the warmest places in Napa, where the slope is so steep it could qualify as a double-black-diamond run at a ski resort! 

This collaboration is incredibly exciting for us: It captures the magic of Napa terroir like little else—and you’ll only find it here at Wine Access.