Top Shelf

The Secret Behind These Stellar California Cabernets

The story behind Vine Hill Ranch, a third-generation Napa vineyard, and five bottlings from its grapes to consider.

If you were a grape, wouldn’t you want to grow here?Photographer: Jak Wonderly

Provide news feedback or report an error

Confidential tip?

Send a tip to our reporters

Site feedback:

Take our Survey

By Elin McCoy

November 26, 2025 at 12:08 AM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

Hi, all you wine lovers, it’s Elin, your expert in all things vino, with the latest news and tales of my adventures. This month, I happily traded a blast of East Coast cold for the warm sun of Napa, Sonoma and Lodi in California. One draw was the 2025 Old Vines Conference, a five-day extravaganza packed with tastings, discussions, panels on new scientific and historical research, and tours of twisted, gnarled 100-year-old vines. All of it convinced me that we should all be buying more old-vine wines.

But I also managed visits to other important California vineyards, including under-the-radar Vine Hill Ranch in Oakville, one of Napa Valley’s most prestigious sources of cabernet sauvignon. Nine well-known producers use the estate’s grapes to create their own interpretations of the site and put the vineyard’s name on the label like a badge of honor. More on this worldwide trend in a minute. First, here’s what I’ve been reading: