Lot 62 is one of the most unusual offerings in the CAM X catalog — a St. Helena estate Malvasia Bianca, a rare Italian white varietal grown in Napa Valley, from a producer with a long history in the appellation. Claude’s source guess is Ballentine Vineyards.
Lot 62 — 2025 St. Helena Malvasia Bianca
Lot Overview
- Region: St. Helena, Napa Valley
- Vintage: 2025
- Varietal: 100% Malvasia Bianca (estate fruit)
- Fermentation: Stainless steel
- Alcohol: 13%
- Cases Available: ~125
- Cam Price: ~$10/bottle ($119/case)
- Retail Estimate: ~$35–$40/bottle (tasting room)
- Claude’s Source Guess: Ballentine Vineyards — Betty’s Vineyard, St. Helena
- Wine Berserkers Guess:
- Drink Window: 2026–2029 (drink young and fresh)
Cameron’s Release Notes
Dear Friends,
I have a most unusual and exciting white wine offer for you today!
Lot 62 is a gorgeous, estate-grown St. Helena Malvasia Bianca from a highly regarded producer with a long history of producing exceptional wines from this iconic appellation. The producer sells this wine for well over $30/bottle and it is a fantastic deal at $99/case DELIVERED.
At just $99/case DELIVERED, this is a mind-blowing deal for world-class St. Helena Malvasia Bianca!
Tasting Notes
Lot 62 is a gorgeous, estate-grown St. Helena Malvasia Bianca from a highly regarded producer with a long history of producing exceptional wines from this iconic appellation. The producer sells this wine for well over $30/bottle and it is a fantastic deal at $99/case DELIVERED.
Beautiful pale gold in the glass with a gorgeous, effusive bouquet of orange blossom, honeysuckle and ripe peach notes beautifully complexed with lemon zest, apricot and a kiss of spice. With air, the bouquet opens further with notes of jasmine, rose petal and a lovely mineral halo. Supple and juicy on entry with a beautifully integrated structure of medium-bodied Malvasia Bianca with mouthwatering acidity carrying ripe peach and apricot fruit laced with orange blossom and honeysuckle to a long, sustained finish. Beautifully balanced with tremendous elegance and complexity, this gorgeous St. Helena Malvasia Bianca is a must-have for white wine lovers!
⏳ Bottle Shock Status
2025 vintage — allow 30–60 days before opening. Best from Summer 2026.
Claude’s Source Guess: Ballentine Vineyards — Betty’s Vineyard, St. Helena
The clues here stack cleanly in one direction. Cam specifies 100% St. Helena estate fruit from a producer who is a “steward of the varietal in Napa Valley” and “sells a variety of Malvasia-based wines.” That is an unusually narrow description for a grape that almost nobody grows in Napa Valley, let alone with enough commitment to produce multiple expressions of it.
Ballentine Vineyards in St. Helena fits every element. They planted Malvasia Bianca specifically because of their Italian immigrant heritage — great-great-grandfather Libero Pocai came from Lucca, Italy — and they’ve been cultivating it on their Betty’s Vineyard since 2006. More importantly, they produce the varietal in several distinct styles: a bone-dry still wine, a frizzante (lightly sparkling) version, and a full méthode traditionnelle sparkling wine, making them genuinely one of the only Napa producers to offer a “variety of Malvasia-based wines” from estate fruit. Their tasting room sits right on their estate property in St. Helena, and wines are sold through the tasting room and wine club — the typical pricing lands around $35–$40/bottle, which tracks with the “75% off tasting room price” math at $10/bottle.
The flavor profile — jasmine, honeysuckle, peach, honey, lemon-lime acidity — is precisely the Malvasia Bianca profile that reviewers have consistently described from Ballentine’s Betty’s Vineyard bottlings. One early reviewer noted it had “all the character and complexity of a nice Gewurztraminer,” which echoes Cam’s own Gewurztraminer comparison directly.
V. Sattui is worth a brief mention as an alternative — they’re also DTC-only, St. Helena estate, Italian heritage, and make a wide portfolio of 60+ wines including Italian varietals. However, there’s no strong documentation of them making multiple Malvasia expressions or specifically championing the varietal the way Ballentine has.
✅ Confidence: High on Ballentine Vineyards. The Italian heritage angle, the multiple Malvasia expression detail, the St. Helena estate footprint, and the tasting-room-price math all converge on them specifically.
Drink Window
Early Enjoyment: Summer 2026 — the jasmine, peach and lemon-lime aromatics will be at their most expressive in the first 1–2 years.
Peak Drinking: 2026–2028. Malvasia Bianca at 13% with stainless fermentation is built to be enjoyed fresh. The aromatics fade faster than the structure builds.
Hold Potential: 2029 at the outside, and only if you enjoy the waxy, honeyed tertiary character that develops with a few years of age. This is not a cellar wine — it’s a porch wine.
My Call: ⏳ Drink window: 2026–2029 (drink young and drink often)