2023 Clos Pegase Hommage Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley

A publisher walked away from Japan, enrolled at Bordeaux, and hired André Tchelistcheff. That is the origin story here.

Jan Shrem founded Clos Pegase in Calistoga in 1983. He hired architect Michael Graves to build the winery, then filled it with art.

Hommage sits at the top of the house. It was once sold as the Hommage Artist Series, and the name still explains the intent. This is the flagship Cabernet Sauvignon, drawn from the estate's best Cabernet blocks rather than one vineyard.

The 2023 leans dark. The producer calls out blackberry and ripe plum, with espresso and cocoa running underneath the black fruit. That is a Napa Cabernet built for the table, not the trophy shelf.

Clos Pegase went quiet for about a year. It reopened in March 2026, exterior back to its original colors, gallery back in business. Jan Shrem died in 2024. The estate he built is being run again like it matters.

Decant it an hour before dinner. Then stop reading about it and drink it.