Vine Hill Ranch 'VHR' Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon 2023
(Napa Valley, California) - [JD 100] [VM 100] [JS 99] [WP 99] [DM 98] [WS 98]

In the wake of the challenging 2022 vintage, the 2023 growing season presented idyllically temperate conditions and an extended harvest period at Vine Hill Ranch, absent any ill-timed heat or rain events. With ample winter rainfall and predominantly temperate growing conditions, this vintage is noted for its bright fruit character and modest yields expressing remarkably refined structure and purity of varietal character.

Having received abundant winter rainfall, the season provided the vineyard access to ample nutrients, promoting large canopies and proportional fruit set across the vineyard. Considerable effort was expended to maintain necessary balance in the vineyard, including thinning canopies and reducing resultant crop loads, resulting in a winegrape crop that presented the opportunity to craft a wine of bright fruit character and tremendous site expressivity.

While limited in its production, the 2023 VHR Cabernet Sauvignon is a wine of tremendous focus and complexity from what is considered to be a truly remarkable vintage for the Napa Valley.  Fruit harvested from Vine Hill Ranch’s blocks 1, 3, 4, 5, and 6 contribute to a wine of exceptional site expression and varietal character, harmoniously highlighting the attributes of the individual vineyard blocks. The result is a wine that is beautifully balanced, wonderfully complex, and distinctive to my family’s vineyard in Oakville.

The 2023 VHR, Vine Hill Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon sports a deep garnet-purple hue with a perfume of red roses, violets, crushed rocks, and forest floor. Floral flavors, black fruit, and red berry flavors combine with firm, fine-grained tannins and lovely freshness, coalescing to produce a Cabernet Sauvignon possessing beautiful mid-palate density, a pure, layered, elegant mouthfeel, ultra-fine tannins, and a remarkably lengthy finish.

The 2023 harvest began in the early morning of September 22, ending on October 5. Grapes were scrupulously hand-sorted and aged in French oak for 9 months, then blended and returned to barrel for an additional 12 months. 1165 cases were bottled in June 2025.

Ratings & Reviews

100 Points - Jeb Dunnuck:
"Made by Françoise Peschon, the 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon VHR is a perfect wine based on 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from the Vine Hill Ranch Vineyard in the southern part of Oakville and was raised 22 months in 65% new French oak. Cassis, graphite, smoky tobacco, and spicy wood define the bouquet, and it is medium to full-bodied with ultra-pure fruit, a seamless profile, fine tannins, and flawless balance. There are no hard edges, and this has a remarkable sense of class and depth from start to finish. It deserves 5-7 years of bottle age and will be incredibly long-lived. Drink 2030-2055." (Dec 2025)

100 Points - Vinous:
"The 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon is a showstopper. Aromatic and silky, with finesse to burn, the 2023 is immediately captivating right out of the gate. It's a wine that is going to require at least a few years to open up. Brisk acids and beams of supporting tannin extend a sublime, wonderfully polished finish punctuated by graphite, dried herbs and floral overtones. The 2023 is one of the most elegant, refined wines I have tasted here. Drinking Window: 2028-2043." -Antonio Galloni (Nov 2025)

99 Points - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, The Wine Palate:
"Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon slips easily from the glass with impactful notes of black cherries, warm cassis, and red currant jelly, leading to a perfumed undercurrent of red roses, violets, crushed rocks, and forest floor. The full-bodied palate delivers tightly wound floral, black fruit, and red berry flavors with firm, fine-grained tannins and lovely freshness, finishing long and fragrant. Gorgeous! Drinking Window: 2028-2058." (Oct 2025)

99 Points - James Suckling:
"This is poised, with balanced fruit intensity and aromas of dark cherries. crushed blueberries, spices, black currants, violets, graphite, bay laurel and a deep earthy undertone. The palate is taut and focused, with underlying power that is just waiting to soften, showing firm yet ultra-fine tannins and a mouthwatering palate with a lovely earth-driven, savory edge and a complete finish. A wine for the cellar that will age for decades. Drink or hold." -Ryan Montgomery (Jan 2026)

98 Points - Decanter:
"This wine is beautifully poised in 2023, defined by classic Oakville spice and layered black-fruit intensity, underpinned by graphite and ironstone minerality. Refined cedarwood and chaparral notes rise from the glass, joined by a gorgeous thread of tobacco that adds savoury depth. There is a striking purity of fruit at the core, its intensity amplified by remarkable freshness that keeps everything lifted and precise. The tannins are ultra-fine, powdery, and seamlessly interconnected, building steadily through the finish with a chiseled quality. The 2023 vintage marks the first season Françoise and Isabelle worked together, and the harmony in the glass reflects that partnership. Drinking Window: 2026-2050." -Jonathan Cristaldi (Mar 2026)

98 Points - Wine Spectator:
"This throws off stunning fruit in the form of mulberry, morello cherry, black currant and boysenberry flavors that boast the intensity of fruit paste but the feel of a puree or coulis as they race along with precision. Iris, savory and apple wood accents filter through, adding range, while a steely iron spine serves as ground wire for everything. At the tail end, an inky note leaves a mouthwatering echo. With the added succulence of the vineyard, there's also a shimmering feel, along with pinpoint precision. Best from 2030 through 2050." -James Molesworth (Jul 2026)

18++/20 Points - Jancis Robinson:
"Full bottle 1,311 g. 100% estate-grown Cabernet Sauvignon. Harvested from 22 September to 4 October. Wine was matured in 65% new French oak barrels for a total of 21 months. Deep purple. Brooding dark fruit with a beautiful minty freshness. Fine-grained, lightly drying tannin, energetic acidity and a long finish. Gorgeous, classic Napa Valley Cabernet with power, depth and freshness. I'd wait awhile to open this." -Samantha Cole-Johnson