2019 Crosby Roamann Satyrs Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 750 ml

Only just four barrels—less than 100 cases—were made of the 2019 Crosby Roamann Satyrs Ridge Cabernet. That isn’t enough, but it isn’t surprising.

After all, this wine hails from a steep, NDA-protected vineyard in St. Helena whose vines date back to 1970. The source of multiple 99- and 98-point bottles, this site’s gnarled plants produce barely a ton per acre of intensely flavorful, beautifully expressive grapes. There’s not much fruit to go around, but what is there is exquisite.

The Napa Cabernet Industrial Complex wouldn’t have much use for this lonely, steep, four-acre hilltop vineyard block on the west side of St. Helena. In 2019, the production from these gnarled, old vines was barely over a ton per acre—a tiny quantity of grapes that would be a rounding error at most big commercial wine enterprises.

“You can’t really find stuff like this anymore,” says Sean McBride, the talented one-man band behind Crosby Roamann. “There’s just so few of them at this point.” He had to sign an NDA not to reveal the name of the iconic vineyard that his block belongs to—and it’s been the source of some legendary 99-point wines. The owners told him it was only a matter of a few years before they’d be forced to replant.

Tastes today are turning to old-school Napa Cabs that are reminiscent of Bordeaux or great, old Mondavi vintages—a style that a half-century-old block like this produces effortlessly. To preserve that old-vine integrity, Sean used open-top fermenters to help burn off extra alcohol—inspired by Dunn’s approach to its famous Howell Mountain Cabernets. Of the four barrels produced, just one was new oak, to achieve the tannins and micro-oxygenation without overly oaking the wine.

This is a true Cabernet jewel from St. Helena, a throwback bottling with stunning, timeless appeal.