Napa Cabernet 2022: Which 2022 Cabernets should I drink and when?

Known for its ageability, Napa’s Cabernet Sauvignon is typically a wine to lay down for years.

In the heat affected 2022 vintage, you’ll find wines of warmth and generosity that won’t need time to come into their own, Jonathan Cristaldi offers a guide on wines to open now, what to sit on for a year or two and which wines produced in this hot year are built for the long haul.

Scroll down for Jonathan’s suggestions on when to drink his favourite Napa 2022 Cabernets

Short-term pleasure

These are wines for the hedonist. Immediately pleasurable, these 2022 Cabernets may get better, but are certainly ready now.

They offer a mix of just-ripe red and black-fruited profiles, typically are medium-to-full-bodied, and have plump, soft tannins that are so well-integrated the drinking experience is effortless, like accepting an invitation to dine at The French Laundry on someone else’s dime.

Paul Hobbs Cuvee Sophia Proprietary Red, Napa Valley (Coombsville)

Perhaps the most approachable at the pull of the cork this wine will ever be, with plenty of tannins for potential cellaring, but really, it is accessible early on.

Amici Cellars Hirondelle Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley (Stags Leap District)

With softer tannins than typical vintages, this is a wine to enjoy early and often.

Moone-Tsai Cor Leonis Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley

Balanced valley-floor juiciness and rich fruit with fine, grippy tannins and loads of brown spices, begging for lamb and burger pairings. Those spices will evolve nicely in the next 5-7 years.

Duckhorn Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley

With early, upfront appeal, the wine’s gentle tannins and integrated cedarwood spices create a smooth, approachable texture, making this an easygoing yet refined Napa Cabernet.

V. Sattui Winery Vittorio’s Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley (St Helena)

Extremely gentle tannins further enhance its upfront juiciness and approachable, easy-drinking nature.

Grace Family Vineyards Reliquus Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley (St Helena)

Reliquus is crafted from a blend of fruit sourced from Grace Family’s estate vineyards in the St. Helena AVA. Designed to be approachable and easy-drinking. 93/100

Maxville Winery The High Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley

Fantastic depth and concentration, supported by a framework of robust, well-structured tannins.

The Vice Batch #142 Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley

It is a well-structured, food-friendly wine with depth and approachability.

Click here for scores and reviews of all 650+ 2022 Napa Cabernets tasted

Mid-term appeal

These wines are for collectors at ease with their current stash—those content to lay bottles down for a year or two before pulling the cork. That extra time in the bottle will yield a finer integration of tannins, which, in the end, is all about mouthfeel.

Do you favour satin or velvet? Silk or cotton? These are meticulously made wines that arguably ought to have been held back by the winery for another vintage or two – yet when cash flow calls, who can afford the luxury?

Tuck them away and start enjoying their emerging complexities come next summer.

Morlet Family Vineyards Passionnément Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley (Oakville)

Full-bodied and densely packed, the palate is layered with robust, compact tannins that thread seamlessly into a long finish, and still, Morlet’s 2022s are all well-suited to pairing with lengthy meals and are a pleasure to enjoy early and often.

Inglenook Rubicon Napa Valley (Rutherford)

Really impressive for its classic dusty mineral and earth character, full body, and balanced tension. Easier-going than 2021 and 2019 and ideal for earlier enjoyment. 95/100

Eleven Eleven XI Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley (Oak Knoll)

From Oak Knoll, where wines enjoyed cooler temps, leading to structure, powerful tannins, and still compact and coiled up.

Dalla Valle Vineyards Maya, Napa Valley (Oakville)

Right out of the gate, at the cork’s pull, it is medium-bodied and so approachable in 2022. This wine is a real treat for collectors because it offers youthful exuberance with easy-drinking upfront appeal, but it has the structure to cellar as well. Best to let 2021 and 2019 keep slumbering.

Realm Cellars The Bard, Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley

This wine delivers the rich, dark fruit signature of Realm, layered with the kind of density and concentration not quite characteristic of the warmer vintage.

Hoopes Dante’s Block Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley (Oakville)

This barrel selection offers a complete wine with all the hallmarks of great Napa Cab, from ripe fruit to leather and tobacco spice and a medley of dried herbs matched by cool minerality, all traits that will reward with secondary and tertiary notes later.

Long-term reward

Whether you’ve a home cellar, a reliable high-end wine fridge, or off-site storage, these are the bottles that merit long-term cellaring. Ideally, you’d have at least three, six, or a full case—tasting them young, again in five years, and then enjoying them steadily after seven or eight years of rest.

These are the finest-crafted wines from a hot vintage—wines made by winemakers who, during the latter stages of harvest, tended their vines more devotedly than their families.

The result is unmistakably in the glass. They offer immediate appeal, but will reach their peak between eight and 10 years from vintage.

Ad Vivum Sleeping Lady Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley (Yountville)

Not enough wines from Yountville were tasted in 2022 to produce an AVA-specific report, but this wine from Chris Phelps is pure magic, with suave appeal and Bordelais-like building tannins atop a juicy centre.

Matthiasson Phoenix Vineyard, Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley

One of the most complex wines of the vintage, leading with spicy Calabrian chilli oil, blue fruits and loads of spice with assertive tannins underscored by an electric sense of energy and tension.

Cathiard Vineyard Founding Brothers, Napa Valley

Super compact and driven by tension and vivacious fruit, a real vintage standout with incredible freshness.

Annulus Cellars Vine Hill Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley (Oakville)

Stylish, suave, and expressive, sporting superfine tannins infused with an iron-scented minerality. Juicy and approachable now, but worth holding

Arrow&Branch Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley (Oakville)

Compact, tension-filled, vibrant, energetic, and built for the long haul. Best from 2027 and on.

AXR V. Madrone Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley (St. Helena)

From a site at the base of Spring Mountain, this wine offers the magical upfront pleasure of dark ripe fruits, superfine tannins and energy. Because forests surround the site, the microclimate created helped mitigate the impacts of the 2022 heat spell.

Harlan Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley (Oakville)

There’s an incredible freshness and tension, and compared to 2021, despite the earlier harvest, the clarity, generosity, and crunch of the bright fruit stand out. Arguably hedonistic and one you can revel in at the pull of the cork.

Napa Valley 2022: The drinking windows

Related articles

• Napa Valley Cabernet 2021: Full report and buying guide 
• Napa Cabernet 2021: Score table
• Napa Valley 2021 Cabernets home page