The 2021 VHR has been quietly wowing us since its arrival. We knew winemaker Francoise Peschon would work magic with this classic vintage, and she did not disappoint. Smelling this wine is like recalling the memory of an old friend—nostalgic and enchanting. The balance of spice, violet, dark plum skin, and hints of vanilla harkens of classic Napa; it simply feels good to put your nose in this glass. The tongue is wrapped in velvet as notes of cassis, licorice, and cinnamon slowly move through different parts of the palate toward what seems like a never-ending finish. This is one for the ages.

Led by winemaker Françoise Peschon and vineyard manager Mike Wolf, VHR is crafted from seven distinctive blocks within the 70-acre vineyard on Bruce and Heather Phillips’ western Oakville estate. The Phillips family has farmed Vine Hill Ranch since 1959, when Bruce’s father, Bob Phillips, first began growing grapes here. VHR sits at the base of the Mayacamas Range—one of Napa Valley’s most prized zones for Cabernet. This area provides the perfect balance of hillside structure and valley-floor elegance, producing wines with depth, purity, and tension.Today, most of the fruit is still sold to long-standing winery partners and a select group of newer producers fortunate enough to work with this premier site.

Since 2008, the family has set aside a portion of the fruit to produce their own estate Cabernet Sauvignon—VHR—a wine that highlights the vineyard’s variations in soil, elevation, and exposure through a bottling of depth, complexity, and unmistakable site expression.