Lot 36 is a stainless steel Sauvignon Blanc from a tiny boutique producer in the obscure Wooden Valley region of Napa — one of the few genuinely unidentified lots in the catalog despite the specific geography. Claude’s source guess is St. Clair Brown Winery, Alt: Laird Family Estate.
Lot Overview
- Region: 100% Napa Valley (Wooden Valley single vineyard, eastern hills north of Solano County)
- Vintage: 2024
- Varietal: 100% Sauvignon Blanc
- Oak Aging: None — 100% stainless steel with lees aging
- Alcohol: 14.0%
- Cases Available: ~85–90
- Cam Price: ~$10.75/bottle ($129/case)
- Retail Estimate: $45/bottle
- Claude’s Source Guess: St Clair Brown?
- Wine Berserkers Guess: St Clair Brown
- Drink Window: Now–2027
Cameron’s Release Notes
Dear Friends,
I have a fantastic white wine offer for you today!
Lot 36 2024 Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc comes to us from a well-regarded single vineyard in the cooler Wooden Valley region of Napa just north of Solano County. The producer is a tiny boutique operation cutting back on how much they bottle and we squeezed out 240 gallons before their upcoming bottling. Produced entirely in stainless steel with a good dose of lees aging, the wine retails for $45/bottle under the original label.
At just $129/case DELIVERED, this is a fantastic deal for a world-class Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc!
Tasting Notes
Lot 36 2024 Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc comes to us from a well-regarded single vineyard in the cooler Wooden Valley region of Napa just north of Solano County. The producer is a tiny boutique operation cutting back on how much they bottle and we squeezed out 240 gallons before their upcoming bottling. Produced entirely in stainless steel with a good dose of lees aging, the wine retails for $45/bottle under the original label.
Lemon blossoms halo white peach and grapefruit with kaffir lime zest and mandarin orange complexing with air. Super smooth, supple and beautifully balanced on entry with ripe pear, guava and lime conspiring with zesty acidity in a long, fleshy finish. The soft, round midpalate combines the fleshiness of pear and guava with chalky, zesty, mineral-driven acidity to great effect. Crisp, clean and long, this gorgeous, balanced and lovely Sauvignon Blanc is a quintessential and delicious example of the variety grown in California’s cooler climes!
✅ Bottle Shock Status: Drinking well now — stainless SB needs no aging.
Claude’s Source Guess: St. Clair Brown Winery — Wooden Valley Single Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc (Alt: Laird Family Estate)
Two Napa boutique producers have been identified by the community as the most plausible sources, and both have meaningful connections to the clues Cam provides.
St. Clair Brown Winery, founded by Elaine St. Clair and Kathryn Brown, is a women-owned boutique Napa operation known for small-production, terroir-driven whites made with minimal intervention. Their Sauvignon Blanc program uses stainless steel fermentation with lees aging — precisely Cam’s production method — and their wines retail in the $40–50 range. The “tiny boutique producer cutting back on how much they bottle” description fits their small-production model well, and their sourcing philosophy of seeking out distinctive, less-celebrated Napa vineyard sites is consistent with farming a single vineyard in the obscure Wooden Valley corridor.
Laird Family Estate is the geographic alternative — their winery and custom crush facility sit in the eastern Napa hills near the Wooden Valley area, and they farm estate Sauvignon Blanc from that same cooler corridor. Their proximity to the Wooden Valley geography is the strongest argument for the Laird guess. However, Laird’s SB program tends toward higher volume and lower price points than Cam’s “$45/bottle” retail, making them a slightly weaker fit on the pricing clue.
WB’s guess of St. Clair Brown is Claude’s preference — the stainless/lees production style, $45 price tier, and boutique scale all align more precisely than Laird. That said, without confirmation this remains speculative, and Wooden Valley is obscure enough that the actual producer may be a small négociant or custom crush client with no significant public footprint.
✅ Confidence: Low-Medium for St. Clair Brown — style and price tier fit well, but no confirmed Wooden Valley vineyard sourcing found. Laird fits geographically but less so on price and style.
Drink Window
Drink now through 2027. Unoaked stainless Sauvignon Blanc is built for freshness.
My Call: ✅ Drink now — 2024–2027