Chappellet Winery, Pritchard Hill, 2023
Chappellet Winery, Pritchard Hill, 2023
- 75cl
- 14.5%
- Red Still
- Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot
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Drinking window: 2028 - 2050
Est. delivery in 2027
Chappellet Winery is one of Napa Valley’s pioneering mountain estates, founded in 1967 by Donn and Molly Chappellet. Nestled high on the rocky slopes of Pritchard Hill above Lake Hennessey, the winery quickly became known for Cabernet Sauvignon grown at altitude—wines with structure, depth, and longevity.
'Pritchard Hill' is the top cuvée and the most powerful expression of the estate.
What the critics say:
"The flagship wine of Chappellet, this is sleek, deep, powerful, extremely pure and vivid Cabernet hidden power, and again this cut tannic frame that shelters the fruit, a beautiful wine that has this enveloping violet fragrance, and showcases the brilliance of the 2023 vintage. 41ha, Philipe Titus winemaker, David Frankie director."
"The flagship release here, the 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon Pritchard Hill sports a saturated purple hue and absolutely heavenly aromatics of crème de cassis, liquid violets, graphite, crushed stone, and a Pauillac-like character that builds with time in the glass. Based on 95% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Petit Verdot, it's full-bodied, has a deep, concentrated mouthfeel, ultra-fine tannins, and a great, great finish. This is magical stuff that offers pleasure even today given its purity, balance, and finesse, but I'd be shocked if it didn't keep for 50 years or more."
"Now this is one beautiful, full-bodied, full-framed Napa Cabernet from an iconic producer. The wine opens with blue fruit and beautifully fine, expressive French oak notes – perfectly toasted and exuding espresso, dark chocolate, and molasses – before blackberry fruit builds with intensity and segues seamlessly into a ripe, pure-fruited palate. This powerful wine overflows with ripe fruit and lavish Indian and Asian spices, and candied violets, while powerful tannin is perfectly integrated – forming a seamless tapestry of dark berry fruit-and-brown-spice through the finish. Tasted over three days, it just gets better and better. One note of warning: The bottle itself is a little heavy, so instead of recycling it, consider adding it to your free weight collection."
Pritchard Hill sits at elevations between 400 and 600 metres on the eastern slopes of Napa Valley, well above the fog line and with significantly thinner, rockier soils than the valley floor — volcanic ash, red clay, and fragmented stone that force vines to work hard and produce small, concentrated berries. The altitude delivers a wider diurnal temperature range than lower Napa sites, preserving natural acidity and extending the growing season in a way that adds precision rather than just power. These are not easy conditions, which is precisely the point.
Napa Valley AVA is California's most famous wine appellation, encompassing roughly 16,000 hectares across a varied landscape of valley floor, hillside, and mountain terrain. Within it, Pritchard Hill sits in the Chappellet estate's home territory on the eastern hills, though it is not itself a formally recognised sub-AVA — it is a place whose reputation has been built entirely by the quality of the wines rather than regulatory definition. Compared to the valley-floor AVAs like Oakville or Rutherford, which tend toward plushness and generosity, Pritchard Hill wines have a more structural, mineral character that places them closer in spirit to mountain appellations like Howell Mountain or Spring Mountain District.
After the drought years that dominated much of the early 2020s, 2023 brought Napa something it had almost forgotten: a genuinely wet winter. Atmospheric rivers dumped substantial rainfall across California through the early months, replenishing reservoirs and pushing water tables up in ways the valley hadn't seen for years. The growing season that followed was cooler and more drawn out than recent vintages, with harvest arriving later than many growers had become accustomed to. That extra hang time matters — it tends to produce phenolic ripeness without the sugar accumulation that forces winemakers into picking decisions they'd rather not make.
The result across Napa is a vintage that feels more detailed and less obviously plush than the blockbuster heat years. Cabernet Sauvignon shows real structure — tannins that have something to say — alongside fruit that doesn't overwhelm the conversation. These are wines built for the medium to long term. The best examples from Oakville, Rutherford, and Stags Leap will reward patience; give the serious reds until at least 2028, and the top names considerably longer. If you're reaching for bottles now, give them air and time in the glass.
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Chappellet Winery
