2022 Apsara Cabernet Sauvignon Cuvée S Knights Valley 750 ml

Outpost, Schrader, Carter, and Maybach have combined for close to SEVENTY 100-point wines. Robin Akhurst made wine for all of those wineries.

That level of craft SHINES in Akhurst’s passion project, the 2022 Apsara Cabernet Sauvignon Cuvée S. Hailing from a 44-year old vineyard in Knights Valley—11 years older than Peter Michael’s $250 Les Pavots vines nearby—it’s hedonistic yet polished, drinking like every penny of its $60 price tag at the winery. 

Akhurst started out as a somm in Edinburgh, later making his way to a major retailer in London. After earning a viticulture and winemaking degree in New Zealand, he stages at Leflaive in Burgundy and Two Hands in Australia’s Barossa Valley. A connection led him to a coveted position working in Napa under Thomas Rivers Brown. Today he’s the winemaking lead for Vintage Wine Estates, a position of huge responsibility.

But Akhurst devotes a lot of time and care to Apsara and Library Collection, his own labels. “These wines are a true labor of love, allowing me the freedom to shape the style and direction of the winemaking process,” he told us. For this wine he went to the Bellissimo vineyard, first planted in 1978. A key source for Kirk Venge, the site is expertly farmed by Matt Stornetta, who trained with Jim Barbour (Scarecrow, Hundred Acre, and more). 

For years now, the smart money in Napa Valley has flocked to Knights Valley because it’s possible to make wines like this at reasonable prices. We absolutely love its aromas of high-toned boysenberry and herby black raspberry fruit, accented by red roses and violets. This juicy, super-pretty, refined Cabernet is drinking beautifully now, but will improve for another decade.