fter a long, dry September day in the middle of the Cabernet Sauvignon harvest, Maayan Koschitzky, a man making some of the most elegant and ageable new reds in California, admitted, “I didn’t know a lot about American wine.” Twenty years ago, the son of a peach and pomegranate farmer was just starting out in the industry, a mechanical engineer interning in the vineyards of a winery in Israel’s Judean Hills. He didn’t know about Oregon’s Willamette or Virginia’s Blue Ridge or New York’s Finger Lakes, “but I definitely knew about Napa Valley.”
Everyone knows Napa Valley, the lodestar of American winemaking. From marine-influenced Carneros to the sunbaked slopes of Howell Mountain, the land here is fertile in both the pedological, or soil-related, sense and the financial sense. It is the birthplace of revered brands like Screaming Eagle and Harlan Estate, and it remains the epicenter of the California cult-wine phenomenon. But, according to Koschitzky, the director of winemaking for Napa legend Philippe Melka’s consultancy, Atelier Melka, the cult-wine mentality has shifted in recent years away from vanity and passion projects and toward t’s crossed, i’s dotted businesses with a capital B. “People are really invested into making some of the best-class wines in the world, in one of the top places in the world,” he said. “And if they’re going to do that, they might as well do it right from the beginning.”
For ambitious, exclusive new labels like Sign of the Dove, Kingsmark, and Menagerie, all the ingredients are here in Napa: Impeccable fruit from heritage AVAs? Check. A sterling international reputation to leverage? Check. Talent in the tanks? Perhaps the biggest check of all.
Menagerie’s managing partners, Ricky and Lisa Novak, recruited Rob Mondavi Jr. to the brand and enlisted Atelier Melka to lead the winemaking. You don’t hire people like that without capital, but the relationship isn’t merely transactional. “I like to say naively that as much as the clients interview us, we interview them,” explained Koschitzky, who is in development with about 20 brands around the world, in addition to producing his own label, La Pelle. “The process of making wine together, it’s very emotional.”
The zoologically themed Menagerie is launching its inaugural vintage, the 2019, in November with a pair of compelling reds: Conspiracy of Lemurs, a Cabernet Sauvignon–Petit Verdot blend; and Shadow of Jaguars, a magnetic Cabernet Sauvignon with a touch of Cabernet Franc. Made from grapes grown on Napa’s Oakville hillside appellation, the wines possess a quality and ageability—coupled with an extremely limited production (98 cases of the former, 94 of the latter)—that could very well lead to cult status. Adding to the allure for collectors, of course, are the all-star team behind the wines and the hallowed ground from which they come.
Every Napa Valley cult wine started somewhere. These three new entries on the scene are poised to find a place in prominent cellars worldwide.
Count Napa Valley icons Rob Mondavi Jr. and Philippe Melka among the contributors to this boutique collection. The 2019 vintage includes a voluptuous Napa Cabernet Sauvignon (Shadow of Jaguars) and a rye cask–finished Napa red blend (Conspiracy of Lemurs, pictured), with notes of plum and toasted coconut. The animal branding isn’t just clever; a portion of the wines’ price ($1,350 per three-count box) benefits wildlife conservation. lovemenagerie.com
Sonoma winemaker Jesse Katz (Devil Proof, Aperture) headed to Napa for this new project from father and son Marc and Jake Taub. For the debut 2021 vintage, the team sourced grapes from the best blocks of Beckstoffer vineyards in Rutherford and Oakville and crafted each 100 percent Cabernet Sauvignon to reflect the respective terroir of each site. After making the rounds in private tasting rooms around the country, the collectible Cabs hit the direct-to-consumer market in three-packs in September for $900. signofthedove.com
Whitney Skibell, niece of Napa wine and hospitality legend Leslie Rudd, recently launched this kosher luxury label with a blockbuster 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon. Clocking nearly 15 percent alcohol, it’s a powerhouse that expresses surprising finesse under the direction of Atelier Melka. With its gold-embossed label and collector’s-box packaging, the $380 bottle also looks the part. kingsmarkwines.com
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