26% Cabernet Franc, 23% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Zinfandel, 22% Merlot, 6% Barbera

Food pairings: Grilled or braised meats, short ribs, barbecue, wood-fired pizza, hearty pasta, and aged cheeses such as Gouda or Manchego.

Winemaking: The 2023 blend was aged 10 months in barrel, 30% new oak, split 50/50 between French and American. With Cabernet Franc in the lead, this vintage, Chaos Theory's 18th, moves stylistically toward a Bordeaux-style blend while keeping a measure of Zinfandel and Barbera.

Vineyards and terroir: The 2023 Chaos Theory was produced from sustainably farmed fruit from the Sonoma Valley. Each vintage is its own blend, shaped by the season and the vineyards at hand.

Family and history: In 1980 the Brown family bought an abandoned ranch in the eastern hills of the Napa Valley, rehabilitated the old homestead and planted vineyards, selling the grapes to local winemakers for a decade. In 1995 siblings Deneen, David and Coral Brown decided to make their own wine and officially established the Brown Estate label in 1996. Chaos Theory began as a one-off, irreverent blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel that David created for the family's first Premiere Napa Valley trade auction; it became a permanent shape-shifter, a reminder that amid seeming chaos there is reason, and from each season, great wine.

In the pictures: Barrels aging in the Brown Estate cave; a hand full of freshly picked red grapes at harvest; and the bar at the family's Brown Downtown tasting room in Napa (photos courtesy of Brown Estate).