Baker & Hamilton Vine Hill Ranch Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon 2019

The incredibly fresh Baker & Hamilton wine hails from the Phillips family’s beautiful Oakville property on the east side of Oakville, near Dominus ($300), Promontory ($900), Beckstoffer Missouri Hopper (which was part of VHR in the past), and Harlan Estate ($1000+) to name a few. The vineyard’s early stewards were Bob and Alex Phillips, whose dad bought the vineyard in 1959 and made it one of Napa Valley’s unheralded stars. Today, it has reached ELITE status alongside the very best vineyards in all of Napa Valley.

Baker & Hamilton was created with a bit more focus on select retailers and restaurants. It’s made in the same exact way as the $300 VHR, just sourced from the lower and slightly cooler part of the vineyard. THAT’S A GOOD THING. The wine soars with excellent blue fruit - amazingly lush, full, and delineated, with a vaguely “old school” Napa note of cedar and tobacco...we LOVED it. It’s a STEAL with all this pedigree, too – did we mention the winemaker is Françoise Peschon – a longtime winemaker for Araujo Estate who trained at Château Haut-Brion? Throw in a nod to tenured vineyard master Michael Wolf (Harlan), and you have an absolute can’t miss! Grab a couple of bottles and you won’t regret it!

PAIRING IDEAS: Don’t overthink this. Get a killer meat or mushroom pie. Make your mom’s meatloaf. Make meatballs or bolognese or cacio e pepe or a hangar steak. Make a burger. This is young, silky, delicious Napa cab — just do what comes naturally!

MUSIC SUGGESTIONS: We hung out with the leader of the Dandy Warhols the other night (dude loves his Bordeaux and Napa cab!), so why not crank it up! “Bohemian Like You” is a good start, then graduate to "Horse Pills" and "Be-In" and many more.