2019 Anthem Wines Cabernet Sauvignon Estate Vineyard Mt. Veeder Napa Valley 750 ml

When you step into PRESS restaurant in St. Helena, you step into a cathedral. 

Seeded by the collection of the late founder Leslie Rudd, managed by Master Sommelier and MICHELIN guide Somm of the Year Vincent Morrow, the 2,700-selection cellar is the world’s largest collection of Napa Valley wines. From a 1965 Heitz to a $10,000 Screaming Eagle, there’s next to nothing that they don’t have. 

There’s also nothing Vincent can’t get. And the top-end Cabernet he chooses to pour by the glass is the Anthem Estate from Mt. Veeder. “We’ve poured the Estate Cabernet by the glass for seven or eight months now,” he told us. “The balance of regional expression of Mt. Veeder, along with the fruit and structure, is what really stood out to me.” 

Anthem proprietors Julie and Justin Arbuckle founded Anthem winery in 2009, after purchasing two Mount Veeder parcels totaling 49 acres. Julie interviewed over 100 local winemaking candidates for the Anthem job. She and Justin wanted a well-connected professional with an established pedigree—but NOT an overbooked consultant who was spread too thin. And they kept coming back to Jeff Ames, the very first winemaker they’d spoken to. 

Ames, the supreme talent behind TOR and Rudius, also has a little winery called Schrader on his resumé, and if there’s an elite winemaker who does his talking with quality over quantity, it’s him. He worked alongside Thomas Rivers Brown at Schrader, Maybach, and Outpost. Now he’s the winemaker at TOR as well as his own label, Rudius, and he continually racks up top-scoring wines under both labels.

That top-flight quality is on full display here, leaving no doubt why Napa’s top wine restaurant is proud to pour this Cabernet.