Is it worth it? An unequivocal YES.

Napa mountain Cab at this level, it’s gonna cost you. But clever collectors – and if you’re reading this, you obviously are one! – are realizing there are other options for finding truly spectacular Cabernet. AND if you’re clever enough to read to the end, you may save a little more!

98 Points, near perfection from Jeb Dunnuck, and TODAY IT’S $115 OFF! But look past the number, and read the review closely…

Goin’ old school here… “Things That Make You Go Hmmm…” When Jeb Dunnuck gave Schrader a perfect 100, he praised its “ultra-fine tannins” and “flawless balance.” Look at his writeup for this Patrimony Cab? He used the same words, and then some: “remarkable purity, ultra-fine tannins, and flawless balance. This is another brilliant wine from this estate.”

Then he added: “I don’t think anyone is doing Bordeaux varieties in Paso Robles better than the Daou brothers, particularly with the top tier Patrimony label.”

James Suckling calls it “Powerful, polished and full of momentum.” Vinous shouts out its “Undeniable elegance.”

Honestly, at this level the ratings game is splitting hairs. But that “remarkable purity”??? We saw where it comes from when we visited last May.

The care that goes into these wines is INSANE. The critics’ words don’t even come close to the ethereal elegance you experience while sipping it.

It starts on the mountain, and that mountain has Napa roots. Decades ago, the legendary André Tchelistcheff, the man who shaped modern Napa Cabernet at BV, consulted there and called it “a jewel of ecological elements,” 2,200 feet up.

Only select rows on DAOU Mountain make Patrimony. Thinned hard, optically sorted, free run juice only, wild yeast from the mountain itself. Just a sliver of what those vines produce makes the cut.

Then there are the barrels. Taransaud’s T5, made from oak seasoned five full years when two or three is the norm.

They’re Allocated; Not ordered. Back in 2016 a single barrel went for €1,500, if you could get one at all.

Over in Stags Leap, Hartwell built a whole 100 case, club only Cab around this barrel and named the wine after it.

Patrimony has T5s in the cellar too. Right next to Daniel Daou’s own custom barrel of rare pink oak called bois rosé, also seasoned five years and toasted low and slow so the oak frames the fruit instead of smothering it.

Barrel tasting these wines at different stages, then tasting the final wine was something special. To better understand these wines, maybe this might help… Everyone has a few of those “One Wines” that make your face light up when you think of them. Patrimony evokes that feeling.

They’re special and beautiful. Sure, you can enjoy them with a bone-in Tomahawk, but honestly, these are the wines you sip and savor long after dinner. You skip dessert, because the nose in the glass and the feelings it brings are more than any dessert could deliver. Even when the glass is empty, you keep going back to smell it. You grasp that glass, and no one is taking it from you.

Yes, maybe we give way too much emotional power to a glass of Patrimony… and ok, some may say our priorities are a little jumbled. But we love what we love, and we ain’t gonna apologize for it either!

And yes…finally the tasting notes!!!

In the glass? Vivid ruby edging toward purple. The nose is a humidor stocked with midnight mulberry, cassis, wild damson and cigar box, a hint of allspice and a lilac lift on top. Just like the critics said… it’s elegant, pure, graceful.

The flavors weave brilliantly across your palate. Medium to full-bodied, the tannins are fine grained and let the essence of the fruit shine, while playing a sophisticated harmony of structure in the background. It’s dense and glossy with a dusting of bittersweet cacao. The finish rolls on and on… the Energizer Bunny would have a dance partner with the length of this wine.

Decant it and give it time to stretch out. Jeb has it drinking through 2045, so it’ll sit happily next to your Napa bottles in the cellar.

A 98 Pointer that earned Jeb’s Perfect Wine vocabulary, at $115 off? $220 here.

Psst… PATIENCE Rewards Ops! Get an extra $20 OFF each bottle when you use Code: PATRIMONY at checkout.

98 Points - Jeb Dunnuck “I don’t think anyone is doing Bordeaux varieties in Paso Robles better than the Daou brothers, particularly with the top tier Patrimony label. The flagship Cabernet, boasting a vivid ruby/purple hue, the 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon offers a terrific nose of crème de cassis, violets, sweet flowers, spicy oak, and cigar box. Made from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon and aged 30 months in new French oak, it’s medium to full-bodied on the palate, with remarkable purity, ultra-fine tannins, and flawless balance. This is another brilliant wine from this estate. Drink 2025-2045.”