Lot Overview
- Region: Napa Valley (Pritchard Hill / Atlas Peak corridor)
- Vintage: 2024
- Varietal: 90% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Sauvignon, 1% Petite Sirah (Petite Sirah sourced separately)
- Oak Aging: 60% new French oak
- Alcohol: 14.9%
- TA / pH: 6.9 g/L TA, 3.5 pH, malic 0.32 g/L, lactic 0.58 g/L
- Cases Available: ~150
- Cam Price: ~$12.50/bottle ($149/case)
- Retail Estimate: $70–80+/bottle equivalent (Chappellet Merlot program)
- Claude’s Source Guess: Chappellet Winery — Pritchard Hill/Atlas Peak Merlot, component of Las Piedras or Pritchard Hill Cab blend
- Wine Berserkers Guess:
- Drink Window: 2027–2038 (peak 2029–2035)
Cameron’s Release Notes
Beautifully extracted with a dark, inky core and vibrant purple rim, Lot 74 hails from the best upper blocks in the “vineyard that shall not be named” produced by the same winery as Lot 75, and while dark and inky in the glass, features a ridiculously expressive and vibrant bouquet with rich, ripe, energetic structure to match.
Normally one of the main components in a $150+/bottle Icon-level proprietary red blend (this was the best, so we passed on the other components), Lot 74 is a no-expense-spared production featuring ~65% new French oak. Napa Cab-lovers take note: this is every bit as powerfully structured, complex and compelling as any icon-level Cabernet Sauvignon…in short, this is one spectacular Merlot!
And the price is equally spectacular, just $149/case! Only 150 cases to go around…
Tasting Notes
Dark, inky core with vibrant purple rim. Soaring, energetic bouquet of black and blue fruit, cacao and fresh-turned black earth complexed with leather and cedar. As the bouquet opens, damson plum and tobacco leaf notes join the fray, the end result a tremendously complex bouquet. On the palate, fleshy ripe fruit is slathered over muscular-yet-elegant, fine, mountain mineral-laced tannins unfurling a huge, swashbuckling finish of blueberry and plums haloed with tobacco leaf notes. Rich, ripe, energetic and complex, Lot 74 beautifully captures the essence of the 2024 vintage.
⏳ Bottle Shock Status
2024 vintage, recently bottled. Allow 60–90 days minimum. Mountain tannin structure and 60% new oak need integration time.
Claude’s Source Guess: Chappellet Winery — Merlot from Pritchard Hill/Atlas Peak estate, Las Piedras component
With Lot 75 firmly identified as Chappellet’s Pritchard Hill Cabernet Sauvignon (see Lot 75 notes), Lot 74 becomes considerably easier to place. Chappellet produces a Napa Valley Merlot grown on their same Pritchard Hill estate, and their Merlot has long served as a component in their Las Piedras proprietary Pritchard Hill red blend, which also incorporates Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Petit Verdot, and Cabernet Franc. Cam’s description of this as “normally one of the main components in a $150+/bottle Icon-level proprietary red blend” aligns with Merlot being blended into the Pritchard Hill Cab at its highest tier — a $250–300 wine — when Chappellet uses it as a seasoning component in their flagship.
The “mountain mineral-laced tannins” are a Chappellet signature — the volcanic, rocky Pritchard Hill soils at 800–1,800 feet produce Merlot with a structural intensity more akin to a Pomerol hillside than a valley floor. This is Merlot that reads like a mountain Cab, exactly as Cam describes. Chappellet also grows Petite Sirah as a standalone varietal on their estate, which would explain the 1% Petite Sirah component sourced separately — likely a small parcel from a neighboring grower rather than a completely different producer.
✅ Confidence: High — same producer as Lot 75 (Chappellet), same estate, mountain Merlot destined for their Pritchard Hill red blend program.
Drink Window
Early: 2027 — needs 2+ years of integration given the oak and mountain tannin structure.
Peak: 2029–2035. Mountain Merlot from this site ages like a Cab.
Hold: 2038+.
My Call: ⏳ Drink window: 2027–2038 (peak 2029–2035)