98 Points, Jeb Dunnuck

This is an insanely good 2023 Calistoga Cabernet from the master Thomas Rivers Brown. Its a monumental expression of mountain-meets-valley Cabernet, demonstrating huge concentration and perfect balance. The wine offers a deep, saturated core of crushed blackcurrant, dark chocolate, and roasted espresso, laced with savory notes of cedar and dried tobacco.

Despite its size, the palate is defined by pure and smooth with precision, delivering velvety, seamless tannins that provide serious backbone without aggression. Of course its early, but this one already has a 98-point score from Dunnuck and Thomas Rivers Brown may end up with yet another 100-point wine when it’s all said and done.

Rivers-Marie is a Napa Valley winery owned by winemaker Thomas Rivers Brown and Genevieve Marie Welsh, based in Calistoga. Their Calistoga Cabernet Sauvignon is sourced from two blocks of older-vine, heritage clone fruit on the south side of Larkmead Lane, one of the appellation's most distinctive vineyard sites.