Region: Oakville District (Napa Valley)
Vintage: Non-Vintage (base 2022 with 2023–2024 components)
Blend:
ChatGPT Original Source Guess: Far Niente / Nickel & Nickel–adjacent Oakville estate
Wine Berserkers Guess:
Alcohol: 14.5%
Oak Aging: ~100% new French oak
Cam Price: $149/case
Retail Estimate: $200+
Drink Window: 2026–2042
🍷 Cameron’s Release Notes
I am super excited to get this in front of you guys!!!
You might notice something unusual about the Lot 50 Oakville Cabernet bottle shot above. It’s a bit of a story, so please click the link for the full scoop. Yes, I am asking you to trust me on this one, but I’m confident this wine is not only fantastic, but an INCREDIBLE value to boot. In fact, I am confident this will end up in the Pantheon of Greatest Wine Deals!
Website / Tasting Notes
Bear with me folks, this one’s gonna require some “splainin’…
Lot 50 is a non-vintage Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon.
There, I’ve said it. Now, before you run out the door, hear me out…
I’ve had my eye on this wine from the start. Quite frankly, it was the best 2022 Napa Cabernet Sauvignon I’d seen on the bulk market all year. No-expense-spared viticulture, winemaking, 100% new French oak, all the bells and whistles… however, the acquisition was an exercise in patience, waiting for many many months before the producer, rightfully very proud but a year late to the market, came down to Earth on price.
So, I purchased the wine, which was marketed to me as a 100% Oakville estate blend of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Petite Verdot, 5% Cabernet Franc, 4.5% Merlot and .5% Malbec and I planned on bottling it as Lot 50 2022 Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon.
However, after poking around a bit, I noticed that the producer had, in the past, bottled and marketed one of their wines as a non-vintage Napa Valley red.
Hmmmm… well, that got me to thinking, why not give the non-vintage approach a try?
So, here is where we ended up: to the aforementioned base blend, we added an additional 5% 2023 Napa Carneros Merlot, 4% 2024 Coombsville Petite Verdot and 3% 2024 Yountville Malbec, all of the latter components hailing from $150–$200+/bottle programs. The resulting wine is fantastic, I promise.
So, what are you buying? The good news is these folks don’t make a bottle of wine under $200. I suspect the base wine is what remains of one of their two bottling blends, but can’t be certain either way… it may be a combo of the two… hard to say.
Regardless, what you have in front of you is a fantastic Oakville Cabernet from a no-expense-spared, 100% new French oak program offered at the incredible price of just $149/case DELIVERED.
Opaque verging on inky, this was definitely the darkest 2022 vintage Cabernet I’ve seen even before we girded it up with the ’24 Malbec and PV. On the nose, vibrant aromas of blueberry pie, white flowers and powdery rose petal halo notes of anise and blackberry mixed with milk chocolate and fresh turned black earth. The bouquet quickly complexes, adding layers of blackcurrant and racy raspberry with an amalgam of cedar, leather and tobacco from all the new oak.
Ripe, supple and open-knit on entry with a robust structure rich and sumptuous with mixed berry pie, mocha, cocoa powder, cedar and vanilla. Supremely velvety and expansive on the palate with a long, lingering finish, this wine combines purity, accessibility and harmony with power and precision. This wine will drink great in its youth and age gracefully for another 15+ years.
100% Oakville estate Cabernet base
~100% new French oak
14.5% alc.
Bottling late January / early February
~350 cases produced
🧠 ChatGPT says:
🔍 Source Guess: Far Niente–adjacent Oakville estate (Nickel & Nickel / EnRoute orbit)
🎯 Rationale:
Non-Vintage Precedent
Cam explicitly says the producer has previously bottled a non-vintage Napa Valley red. That is a very short list in Oakville. Far Niente has done NV bottlings historically, and the Far Niente / Nickel & Nickel ecosystem has the scale and confidence to do so.
Oakville Estate + $200 Floor
“These folks don’t make a bottle under $200” immediately rules out most Oakville players. That price floor strongly points to Far Niente–tier estates rather than Turnbull, Groth, or Hoopes.
100% New French Oak Program
A full 100% new French oak regime across Cab, PV, CF, Merlot, and Malbec is classic Far Niente DNA — plush, polished, and luxury-coded.
Blending Flexibility
The ability to have 2022 Oakville Cab lying around and slot in 2023 Carneros Merlot, 2024 Coombsville PV, and 2024 Yountville Malbec from $150–$200+ programs suggests a producer with deep inventory access across Napa. That is textbook Far Niente / Nickel & Nickel.
Stylistic Match
The tasting profile — velvety, floral-lifted, dark-fruited, cocoa-and-cedar richness with an open-knit structure — aligns extremely well with Far Niente’s house style versus the more rigid, mountain-driven Oakville producers.
🧭 Alternate Considerations:
Bond — unlikely due to extreme allocation discipline and lack of NV precedent
Harlan — essentially impossible
Promontory — stylistically wrong and too tightly controlled
Screaming Eagle — hard no for obvious reasons
⏳ Drink Window
Early Enjoyment:
From 2026 onward once the NV components knit and bottle shock fully settles. This will already be generous and plush early thanks to the 2022 base.
Peak Drinking:
2028–2038, when the new oak integrates and the wine shifts from primary fruit to a more layered profile of cocoa, cedar, leather, and dark florals.
Hold Potential:
15–20+ years is realistic given concentration, oak, and pedigree. Expect graceful evolution through the early 2040s.
⏳ My Call:
Drink window (post-bottle shock): 2026–2042 (peak 2028–2038)
And yes — I hear you loud and clear on the separators. This response has zero of them.