Lot Overview
- Region: 58% Coombsville, 42% Napa Valley (Stagecoach Vineyard, Atlas Peak/Pritchard Hill) — combination of 2 single vineyards, one of which is estate
- Vintage: 2023
- Varietal: 95% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Petit Verdot
- Oak Aging: ~90% new French oak (Taransaud, Francois Frères, Seguin Moreau)
- Alcohol: 14.9%
- Cases Available: ~200
- Cam Price: ~$16.50/bottle ($199/case)
- Retail Estimate: $200+/bottle (originally intended)
- Claude’s Source Guess: Krupp Brothers — “New Icon” program (Stagecoach Vineyard + Coombsville)
- Wine Berserkers Guess: Krupp Brothers “New Icon” ✓ (same as Claude)
- Drink Window: 2027–2045 (peak 2031–2040)
Cameron’s Release Notes
Lot 10 just landed — and it’s a monster. We’re talking serious mountain muscle, blending Coombsville structure with fruit from one of Napa’s most exclusive hillside vineyards. The kind usually hidden behind NDAs and sold at triple-digit prices. Lot 10 was built for an icon-tier label, and trust us, it shows.
Fruit from a legendary vineyard straddling Atlas Peak and Pritchard Hill. Aged in 90% new French oak from elite coopers. Final blend originally destined for a $200+ bottle. Only ~200 cases available.
The wine? Inky and intense, with a dark violet core and just a flicker of purple at the rim. The nose pulls you in with black cherry, boysenberry jam, dark chocolate, cardamom, and seasoned oak. As it opens, layers of wild sage, violets, and red rock come into focus. On the palate, it’s dense, ripe, and built like a powerlifter — bold tannins, black and blue fruit, and a finish of raspberry kirsch and black pepper that just won’t quit. This one’s tight, structured, and cellar-ready. Let it rest a year or two — or stash it for 20+ if patience is your thing.
Tasting Notes
Squid ink in the glass with just a peek of vibrant purple around the rim. The bouquet is densely packed, almost concave, drawing you down before revealing layers of black cherry and boysenberry jam notes framed with dark chocolate, savory cardamom and black pepper/seasoned oak. As it opens, wild sage, red rock and violet florals complex the nose — but clearly, there is more to come here. Rich, ripe and muscular on entry, it presents a palate-staining structure of big-grained, red rock-slathered tannins that seamlessly unfurl perfectly delineated black and blue fruits finishing with a flourish of raspberry kirsch, black pepper and dark chocolate. Dense and tightly wound swaddled in baby fat — give this bad boy a good year or two in the bottle before poaching!
⏳ Bottle Shock Status: Do not open for minimum 2 years. 14.9% alc and 90% new oak need serious integration time.
Claude’s Source Guess: Krupp Brothers — “New Icon” Program (Stagecoach Vineyard + Coombsville)
The identification here is anchored by Cam’s explicit statement in the Lot 13 release: “Sourced from the same winery as Lot 10.” Since Lot 13 is confirmed as Krupp Brothers — via the Water Witch blend profile (Merlot/Malbec/PV/Syrah/Tempranillo), the Atlas Bench estate component, the Stagecoach sourcing, and independent WB confirmation — Lot 10 must be Krupp Brothers as well.
The cooper list Cam names — Taransaud, Francois Frères, Seguin Moreau — is precisely Krupp Brothers’ documented barrel program across their M5, Synchrony, Water Witch, and Black Bart bottlings. The 42% Stagecoach component (“the vineyard that must not be named” straddling Atlas Peak to Pritchard Hill) is Krupp’s home fruit — the same blocks Cam acknowledges he “could never work his way into as they were reserved for the who’s who of consulting winemakers/luxury brands.” The 58% Coombsville component represents purchased fruit incorporated into a new premium blending program outside their standard Stagecoach-only lineup.
Cam’s description of “originally intended as a new, Icon-level offering for their portfolio (the program names are built into the lot codes)” is the most specific clue of all. The phrase “new Icon-level offering” reads as Cam’s careful paraphrase of an internal program name he can see in the barrel codes but isn’t permitted to disclose — and WB’s identification of this as Krupp Brothers’ “New Icon” program fits that reading precisely. Krupp developed this ambitious Stagecoach + Coombsville blend as a premium new tier above their existing lineup, ultimately shelved the commercial release, and redirected the inventory to Cam.
This lot anchors the confirmed Krupp Brothers cluster spanning Lots 10, 13, 14 (Founding Member exclusive, M-Blocks), 16, 17, and 21 — making Krupp Brothers by far the most prolific single source in the CAM X catalog across its first year of releases, supplying Cam with Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Syrah, and the Water Witch proprietary red blend across six separate lots.
✅ Confidence: Very High — “same winery as Lot 13” confirmed by Cam, Lot 13 independently confirmed as Krupp Brothers by WB, Krupp’s documented cooper program (Taransaud/Francois Frères/Seguin Moreau) matches precisely, and “New Icon” program name aligns with Cam’s “originally intended as a new, Icon-level offering” language.
Drink Window
Early: 2027 — 14.9% alc, 90% new oak, and dense mountain tannins need minimum 3–4 years.
Peak: 2031–2040. The Coombsville/Stagecoach structure gives this a 15–20 year arc.
Hold: 2045+. Cam says 20+ years and the oak regimen and extraction support that claim.
My Call: ⏳ Drink window: 2027–2045 (peak 2031–2040)