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Dark and concentrated, with cassis, black cherry, boysenberry, fresh herbs, vanilla, cardamom and clove. Full-bodied, with supple, polished tannins, layers of dark berries and spice, and dark chocolate, espresso, sage and anise on the finish.
Available in store
Close79% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Petit Verdot, 7% Malbec, 6% Merlot
Food pairings: Pan-seared New York strip steak with a cherry sauce, well-marbled ribeye, braised lamb shank, barbecued short ribs, roasted root vegetables and wild mushroom risotto.
Scores:
Winemaking: The Signature Cabernet Sauvignon has been Chappellet's foundational wine for more than three decades: a benchmark for long-lived hillside Napa Cabernet, full of structure and aging potential yet seductively forward. Winemaker Phillip Corallo-Titus, who has guided Chappellet's winemaking since 1990, ferments and ages most vineyard blocks separately, using varied maceration and fermentation regimes and barrels from several elite French coopers before blending. The 2021 vintage followed one of the driest winters on record, then a mild spring and summer with no heat spikes; the vines gave very small berries and clusters, and the long, temperate season with ideal harvest weather produced dark, powerful wines with concentrated flavors and lush tannins. The wine was bottled in June 2023.
Vineyards and terroir: Pritchard Hill rises in the eastern hills of Napa Valley above Lake Hennessey, and its thin, rocky volcanic soils, Sobrante loam and Hambright rock outcrop, produce small, intensely flavored grapes. Chappellet's estate vineyard climbs from 800 to 1,800 feet and is farmed as dozens of individual blocks with their own clones and rootstocks; crop thinning ensures full, even ripening. The estate has been certified organic by CCOF since 2012, and most of the property is left as forest and meadow.
Family and history: Donn and Molly Chappellet founded the winery in 1967 on the then-unknown Pritchard Hill. Their pyramid-shaped winery, designed by artist Ed Moses and built in 1968, was called "the most remarkable wine cathedral of the modern world" by Hugh Johnson. Donn signed the bottles of his celebrated 1969 Cabernet, and from 1984 the "Signature" bottling, a selection of the best lots, became a permanent part of the range. Today the second generation of the Chappellet family carries on their parents' vision.
In the pictures: Winemaker Phillip Corallo-Titus; the Chappellet vineyards on Pritchard Hill above Lake Hennessey; and the barrel hall inside the pyramid winery (photos courtesy of Chappellet).
