2022 Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville

This is another superb set of wines from proprietor Tom Futo and longtime winemaker Jason Exposto. The 2022 Cabernets are among the most exceptional wines of the year. Harvest ran from August 21 to September 5 for the reds, with most of the fruit coming in in August, an especially condensed period that is in line with years like 2015. Sparse canopies with low bunch weights and small berries yielded wines with elevated tannin levels that required cooler ferments and less racking.

Having visited Futo regularly over the years, I can’t say I am surprised by the quality of the wines. Exposto is among the most thoughtful and decisive winemakers in Napa Valley. That comes through in wines of notable finesse, even in a year like 2022. Picking early for freshness and an increasing use of large-format oak are some of the choices that inform these wines. I also tasted the 2023s from base components. Those wines point to a brilliant vintage in the making. Last but certainly not least, the new Seta range of introductory-level wines continues to shine.

Proprietor Tom Futo and winemaker Jason Exposto presented some of the most impressive 2021s and 2022s I tasted this past fall. The wines have been superb for many years, and yet the 2021s suggest that Futo and Exposto have reached another level. Readers will note some changes to the range. There are now four red wines. The Cabernet Sauvignon 5500 remains as it has always been, pure Cabernet Sauvignon from Tom Futo’s Stags Leap property. The Oakville Red Wine, which once contained a fair amount of Cabernet Franc, is now also a pure Cabernet Sauvignon. Futo has a new, ambitious Cabernet Franc-based blend that is quite promising and that takes the place of the OV|SL. A new entry-level offering, Seta, rounds out the reds. There also are two new whites. The Blanc is the top wine, while Seta is the more accessible bottling.

I found the wines this year exceptional across the board. The 2021 reds saw 28-36 days on the skins and were aged in wood of various sizes for 19 to 22 months with minimal racking. Time on the skins was a bit shorter in 2022, as the risk was to over extract. Speaking of the 2022s, the wines at Futo were among the most impressive I have tasted thus far. Stylistically, the wines are bold, hedonistic and very easy to enjoy young, yet they have also proven to age gracefully.