2022 Chad Cabernet Sauvignon Sonoma County 750 ml

For anyone who thinks Napa Valley is all $100 Cabernet and $1,000 hotel rooms, stop into Ana’s Cantina on St. Helena’s Main Street. It’s an unrepentant shot-and-a-beer joint, complete with ancient neons, cluttered back bar, and surly barkeep. A surprising amount of wine deals are sealed there during daylight hours, when half the barstools are empty… and the other half are warmed by colorful regulars like Chad.

We found him in the corner of the back patio, a fresh Modelo in front of him and an empty pushed off to the side. A Rotten Robbie cap cast a shadow over his face, and his burly torso was stuffed into a well-loved puffer vest. 

“You guys know me,” he said, as sloshed two glasses half-full of a deep red wine. “I’m a Napa Valley guy. I never leave. At this point, it’d pretty much take Giants playoff tickets—or Neil Young at the Warfield—to get me out.” 

He stopped, swirled his glass, and took a big sip of Cabernet. “But a vineyard like this…”

“This is from one of the best Cabernet sites west of 101. It’s out in the woods in a corner of Dry Creek—all redwoods, boars, and hippies out there. 50-year old Cab vines on gravel, just down from Rafanelli. The place is in the shade half the damn day, but in years like 2022—with that Labor Day heat spike—it got nice and ripe. But not nearly as hot as it got over here.”

We took a sip, and as we let it linger on our palate, Chad said what we were thinking: “Tell you one thing. If that bottle said ‘Rutherford’ on it, it’d cost triple.”