2023 Outpost Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley

Some Napa Cabernet is made on the valley floor. This one was earned on a mountain. Outpost sits high on Howell Mountain, on vineyard land carved out of solid rock in the late 1990s, where developers had to rip, dynamite and haul away thousands of tons of stone before a single vine could go in. The estate Cabernet comes from the best blocks between 1,800 and 2,200 feet, above the fog line, where the sun is steady, the soils are lean, and the grapes have to fight for every bit of flavor. That struggle is exactly what you taste in the glass.

The man behind it is Thomas Rivers Brown, one of the most celebrated winemakers in California and the quiet force behind some of Napa's most sought-after cult Cabernets. A South Carolina native who arrived in Napa in the mid-1990s after traveling through France, Brown has been making Outpost's wines for more than two decades. He knows every block on this hillside, and he ferments each one separately so only the very best lots make the final blend. The wine is bottled unfined and unfiltered, with nothing taken out and nothing hidden.

The pedigree goes further. In 2018, AXA Millésimes, owner of Château Pichon Baron in Pauillac, bought Outpost after searching for years for a Napa property worthy of standing alongside its great Bordeaux estates. They kept Brown in charge. When the team behind a Second Growth Pauillac picks your mountain as their Napa home, that says a lot about the dirt.

And 2023 is the vintage to own. A wet winter and a cool spring set up a long, even season, and Outpost's high-elevation vines ripened slowly and evenly with no weather drama at harvest. The result is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon aged 18 months in 85% new French oak, with only 1,780 cases made. Expect black currant, blackberry, black olive, spice and dark chocolate, lifted by a floral perfume and a mineral edge that keeps everything fresh and precise. It's full, polished and textural now, and built to go for decades.