Napa Valley’s 2022 & 2023 Cabernet Sauvignons

BY ANTONIO GALLONI | DECEMBER 19, 2024 (UPDATED MARCH 20, 2025)

Additions - March 20, 2025: Cathiard Vineyard, Davies Vineyards, Emerson Brown, Kapcsándy Family Winery, Keever, Knighton Family Vineyards, Lindstrom, Patel, Rewa, Robert Craig Winery, Scarecrow, Sylvan Lake Vineyards, Vineyard 29

Napa Valley is very clearly at an inflection point of tremendous change on many levels. Shifting consumer preferences, vintages with markedly different and at times challenging conditions, and an evolving market are all topics that are front and center in any discussion of Napa Valley today. “May you live in interesting times,” the ancient proverb says. These are definitely interesting times. My annual report covers the bottled 2022 Cabernet Sauvignons and the nascent 2023s from barrel.

Proprietor Tom Futo and longtime winemaker Jason Exposto presented a memorable collection of wines.

 The 2022 Growing Season & Wines

“Apocalyptic.” That’s how Futo winemaker Jason Exposto described the Labor Day heat spike in 2022. It’s as good a descriptor as any.

Although 2022 will mostly be remembered by those critical days in early September when the mercury reached unprecedented levels, the early part of the year was dramatically different. Two thousand twenty-two was quite cool and dry for most of the year. Many producers reported small canopies, low cluster weight and small berries, likely the result of accumulated water stress. Others pointed to water reserves from rain during late fall of 2021 as a mitigating factor. Summer saw a few small heat episodes.

Heat was forecast around Labor Day, something viticulturists and winemakers in Napa Valley are accustomed to. The duration and intensity of that heat, however, were not at all anticipated. When all was said and done, heat persisted for as much as a week in some spots, with temperatures that climbed above 120°F, conditions no one had ever seen before. But understanding the 2022 vintage and the resulting wines requires a more in-depth analysis.

Harvest time at Wheeler Farms, always an exciting time of year.

The 2022 harvest breaks down into three distinct parts. Some vineyards were ripe or close enough to being ready that winemakers simply pulled the trigger and brought the fruit in. At the other end of the spectrum are sites where fruit was further behind in its ripening curve and therefore protected enough from the heat that it was able to sail through and then hang in the aftermath, a period marked by very cold weather and spells of rain just after the heat subsided.