Four-Pack · California Cabernet & Syrah · Virtual Pop-Up Shop 2026
The California Mythology
The wine world has opinions about California Cabernet. These four bottles have better ones.
California Cabernet has a mythology problem. The legend of Napa as the promised land of big, bold, expensive red wine is so pervasive that it tends to obscure the actual wine. These four bottles are here to cut through the mythology and get back to what matters.
One genuinely serious Napa trophy. One benchmark producer working at the top of the valley’s potential. One excellent Paso Robles Cab that refuses to be intimidated by its more famous neighbours. And one Ramey Sonoma Coast Syrah that has absolutely no business being in a Cabernet pack, knows it, and is entirely unapologetic about showing everyone up. California, in four bottles.
The Bottles
DAOU Vineyards 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon
Paso Robles · Cabernet Sauvignon · 2018 · DAOU Vineyards · Open here
The Paso Robles contender — richer than Napa, more affordable, and not remotely apologetic about either.
DAOU’s vineyards sit at 2,200 feet on Paso Robles’ Adelaida side — an elevation that brings cool nights, concentrated fruit and a freshness that their lower-elevation neighbours simply don’t have access to. The 2018 is opulent and generous: dark cassis, mocha, baking spice and a plushness that is very much California but with a sophistication that sets DAOU apart from the crowd. Open it first as the generous, crowd-pleasing opener, before the Napa bottles raise the stakes. It will hold its own considerably better than its price suggests it should.
Ramey 2019 Syrah Sonoma Coast
Sonoma Coast · Syrah · 2019 · Ramey Wine Cellars · The wildcard
The bottle that has no business being this good at this price in this company. And yet.
Ramey’s Sonoma Coast Syrah is the deliberate curveball in this pack — a variety and style that stands apart from the Cabernets surrounding it, and does so with considerable flair. The extreme Sonoma Coast brings cool temperatures that preserve the grape’s aromatic complexity beautifully: dark olive, blueberry, cracked pepper, smoked meat and a northern Rhône-like savouriness that is deeply compelling. Poured alongside Cabernet Sauvignon, it makes the case that California’s most interesting red wines might not all be made from the same grape. David Ramey knows exactly what he’s doing here. Trust him.
Ramey 2016 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
Napa Valley · Cabernet Sauvignon · 2016 · Ramey Wine Cellars
The serious Napa Cab. No mythology required — just excellent wine from an excellent vintage.
David Ramey turns up twice in this pack because he has earned it. The 2016 Napa Valley Cabernet is everything the appellation promises when a skilled producer doesn’t overcorrect for the market: structured and serious, with dark cassis, cedar, tobacco and a Napa-typical density that nine years of bottle age has begun to resolve into something genuinely elegant. This is the Napa Cab for people who are slightly suspicious of Napa Cab — the one that makes the argument with evidence rather than reputation. Decant an hour before serving.
Ulysses 2015 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
Napa Valley · Stags Leap District · Cabernet Sauvignon · 2015 · Finish here
The trophy. A 2015 Stags Leap Cab at ten years old, just arriving at its destination.
The Ulysses project — the collaboration between Cliff Lede and Francis Ford Coppola — has always been about making genuinely serious Napa Cabernet from one of the appellation’s most storied districts. The 2015 vintage delivered everything Stags Leap is capable of: volcanic tuff soils that give the wine its distinctive iron-and-gravel character, a warm year that produced extraordinary concentration, and a winemaking team with the restraint to let the terroir speak rather than drowning it in new oak. A decade on, it is beginning to show its true character: dark cassis, cigar box, graphite and a structural elegance that separates great Stags Leap from merely very good Napa. End here. This is what the pack has been building toward.
What’s included
DAOU Vineyards 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon · Paso Robles
Ramey 2019 Syrah Sonoma Coast
Ramey 2016 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
Ulysses 2015 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon · Stags Leap District
Pick-up available Fri–Sun · Decant the Ramey Cab and Ulysses 45–60 mins
Four bottles. One state. A mythology thoroughly examined and entirely justified.