A Standout: Best Wine of the Show at Thomas Rivers Brown’s Recent Portfolio Tasting
What happens when you bring together a countless 100-point winemaker, a three-Michelin-star chef, a celebrated Southern restaurateur family, and a fourth-generation Napan? You get KHK Winery. The result of a two-decade partnership, KHK unites Jim Keller, Tommy and Billy Hall of Halls Chophouse, and Thomas Keller—blending world-class wine, hospitality, and Napa Valley heritage into one compelling project.

Together, they purchased a prized Yountville vineyard and enlisted Thomas Rivers Brown to craft a wine specifically designed to thrive in the world’s most elite restaurants. For this specific hillside Cabernet, Thomas chose the best rows from Jim Keller’s family’s Shifflett Ranch Vineyard, which rests on the eastern bench. Not for the shy, this powerful Napa Valley Cabernet is dark, intense, and explosively aromatic, opening with notes of rose, toasted peppercorn, clove, and iron. The palate is rich and layered, revealing blackberry, leather, tobacco, and savory earth, with a depth that unfolds beautifully with air. A vibrant acidity brings structure and lift, leading to a long, lingering finish. Impressive now with decanting yet built to evolve gracefully over the next decade.