Lot 23 — 2023 Knights Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
Lot Overview
- Region: 100% Knights Valley (estate, with Cam’s Oakville/St. Helena additions)
- Vintage: 2023
- Varietal: 94% Knights Valley Cab Sauv, 3% Merlot, 2% Cab Franc, 1% Petit Verdot (Cam’s final blend)
- Oak Aging: ~40% new French oak
- Alcohol: 14.5%
- Cases Available: ~400
- Cam Price: ~$11.50/bottle ($139/case)
- Retail Estimate: $70–99/bottle (formerly $100+)
- Claude’s Source Guess: Knights Bridge Winery — Knights Valley Estate Cabernet Sauvignon or Anakota
- Wine Berserkers Guess: Anakota
- Drink Window: 2026–2038 (peak 2028–2035)
Cameron’s Release Notes
Well, I should say it WAS $100/bottle for the last 4-5 years, but I see it now in the market for less — anywhere from $70-99. Sign of the times. Like Calistoga, Knights Valley absolutely slayed it in 2023. The long, cool growing season along with significant vineyard elevation allowed for tremendous hang-time and flavor development, which, in the hands of this winery — renowned for producing wines of structure, complexity and finesse — resulted in a fantastic Cabernet Sauvignon.
Similar vintages of this wine, like the 2021 (what’s in the market), have fantastic scores in the 93+ realm from major critics (Wine Advocate, LPB, Suckling, Dunnuck) and the 2023 is an even better wine. I should note here we received one lot of 100% Cabernet Sauvignon and finalized the blend ourselves.
Tasting Notes
Deep ruby in the glass, Lot 23 features a boisterous bouquet of ripe plum and blackberry with candied violet florals haloing a beautiful mainline of blueberry pie with a graham cracker crust underpinned with graphite, espresso and cedar notes. Fleshy, supple, and approachable on the palate, medium-full-bodied with rich, ripe red and purple fruit perfectly arrayed over graphite-laced, volcanic tannins with notes of pencil lead and gobs of toasted vanilla. Sumptuous but with concentration and power — will drink beautifully in youth and age nicely over the next 10-15 years.
⏳ Bottle Shock Status: Bottling August 28th. Allow 60-90 days minimum.
Claude’s Source Guess: Knights Bridge Winery or Anakota Winery — Knights Valley Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
Two boutique producers actually located in Knights Valley fit Cam’s clues almost identically, and both deserve serious consideration.
Knights Bridge Winery farms approximately 50 organically certified acres on hillside vineyards ranging from 300 to 900 feet elevation on the rocky volcanic slopes of the Mayacamas range — one of only two wineries physically located in Knights Valley. Their estate Cabernet Sauvignon retailed at $100–125 for several vintages and has softened to $70–100 in the current market, matching Cam’s “was $100 for the last 4–5 years, now $70–99” description precisely. The 2021 vintage scored 93 Wine Advocate, 94 Wine Enthusiast, 93 Jeb Dunnuck, and 94 James Suckling — exactly the “93+ realm from Wine Advocate, LPB, Suckling, Dunnuck” Cam cites. The winery is known specifically for structure, elegance, and finesse. Knights Bridge farms Merlot, Cab Franc, and Petit Verdot alongside their Cabernet on the estate, which explains why Cam received 100% Cab Sauv and added his own blending components. The “volcanic tannins” in Cam’s tasting note is also apt — the estate sits on rhyolitic volcanic soils from Mount St. Helena.
Anakota Winery, also a Jackson Family Wines estate in Knights Valley, produces two single-vineyard 100% Cabernet Sauvignons — Helena Dakota and Helena Montana — at the same $100 price tier, scoring 93–95 across Wine Advocate, Dunnuck, and Suckling on recent vintages. Their Helena vineyard wines are known precisely for the structure, complexity, and finesse Cam describes, and Jackson Family’s established négociant relationships would make this kind of surplus arrangement easy to execute. The price slide from $100 to $70–99 in the current softened market fits Anakota equally well.
The WB community landed on Anakota, which is a strong call given their track record and distribution relationships. Claude’s slight preference for Knights Bridge comes down to the newer winery infrastructure (completed August 2021) and the boutique scale making a surplus scenario more plausible — but this one is genuinely too close to call.
✅ Confidence: Medium-High for both Knights Bridge and Anakota — either fits the available clues. The 2023 vintage release may ultimately confirm one over the other.
Drink Window
Early: 2026 — 40% new oak and mountain structure need 2-3 years integration.
Peak: 2028–2035. KV Cab at this quality tier typically peaks 5-12 years from vintage.
Hold: 2038. Cam says 10-15 years and the mountain fruit/tannin structure supports it.
My Call: ⏳ Drink window: 2026–2038 (peak 2028–2035)