Lot 901 2018 Napa Valley Rhone Blend
Released in November 2022, Lot 901 is a Rhone-style Red by way of California’s Côtes du Napa Valley. Sourced from an iconic estate responsible for “top-flight” Napa Rhone Blend reds that cost up to $150.
We’re beyond thrilled to offer you one of the finest California Rhône-style reds we’ve tasted from the 2018 vintage—one of Napa’s best vintages in the last four decades.
The producer we sourced this stunner from is a Napa Valley institution with nearly 50 years of crafting wines of beautiful balance, depth, and complexity. In fact, if you’re a frequent reader of The Wine Advocate, the publication founded by critic Robert Parker, you may have read some Parker reviews of this producer’s “top-flight Napa Cabernet Sauvignon,” which can cost upwards of $150 per bottle.
The grapes for their Rhône-style blend were sourced from two highly coveted vineyard sites in Napa’s Pope Valley, and one in Yountville. All three vineyards have been sources for some of Napa’s top winemakers, including at least two who have earned 100-point scores for their wines. So, as far as the class of these grape sources goes, we’re definitely in the Mercedes Benz category of Rhône varieties growing in Napa.
And for you fans of France’s Rhône Valley—especially fans of the famous Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape, which favors a hefty dose of Mourvèdre for its iconic $100+ blend—you’d be hard-pressed to find another Rhône-style red like Lot 901 2018 Côtes du Napa Valley anywhere near as complex for today’s $32 price tag.
Lot 901 shows a beautiful ruby color in the glass. Enticing aromas of cranberry, blood orange, and black cherry fruits mingle with herb de Provence and hints of vanilla-scented cedar spice. Your first sip reveals a rich and creamy red that unfolds in silken robes of mixed red berry fruit and spiced plums dusted with brown baking spices like cardamom, coriander, and Chinese Five spice. Lovely dark chocolate notes emerge on the finish, driven by a mineral freshness and lively acidity along with bursts of fragrant dried red floral notes. Composed primarily of Mourvèdre and Grenache, with splashes of Syrah and Petite Sirah, it offers a sumptuous, ripe, and juicy California take on the classic GSM blends that are famous throughout France’s Rhone Valley.
Watch as Katy Long, Director of International Wines for VWE walks us through a tasting.
A GUIDE TO PAIRING: CÔTES DU RHÔNE RED