80 Years of Napa Valley | Time, Saved in a Bottle

80 Years of Napa Valley | Time, Saved in a Bottle

Wine Offerings:

1 x 750ml (Standard) 1959 Inglenook Cabernet Sauvignon

1 x 750ml (Standard) 1966 Robert Mondavi Winery Cabernet Sauvignon

1 x 750ml (Standard) 1969 Schramsberg Vineyards Blanc de Blancs

1 x 750ml (Standard) 1974 Heitz Cellar Martha’s Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon

1 x 1.5L (Magnum) 1978 Mayacamas Vineyards Chardonnay

1 x 750ml (Standard) 1985 Groth Vineyards & Winery Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon

1 x 750ml (Standard) 1991 Harlan Estate Cabernet

1 x 750ml (Standard) 1992 Screaming Eagle Cabernet Sauvignon

1 x 750ml (Standard) 1997 Hourglass Cabernet Sauvignon

1 x 750ml (Standard) 2003 Scarecrow Cabernet Sauvignon

1 x 750ml (Standard) 2016 Shafer Vineyards Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon

1 x 750ml (Standard) 2021 Kongsgaard The Judge Chardonnay

Lot Offerings:

• Personal driver and luxury SUV for 3 days for 6 passengers
• 3-nights accommodation for 6 guests at Hourglass guest house in St. Helena
• Napa masterclass at Meadowood, taught by writer and educator Kelli White
• Kelli White as your Personal Tour Guide for a day of Napa Valley wine tasting
• Lunch for 6 guests with Inglenook heir Robin Lail and the Lail Family
• Tour and lunch for 6 guests at Stony Hill winery including a vertical library tasting of Stony Hill Chardonnay with Master Sommelier and President & CEO Carlton McCoy
• Tour and tasting for 6 guests at Hourglass hosted by Founder Jeff Smith
• Tea and popovers for 6 guests with Scarecrow Owner Bret Lopez & Co-Founder Mimi De Blasio at the iconic JJ Cohn estate house
• Tour and tasting for 6 guests at Shafer Vineyards
• Tour and tasting for 6 guests at Kongsgaard with legendary winemaker John Kongsgaard
• Dinner for 6 guests with Tim Mondavi at Continuum Estate

Celebrate 12 iconic moments over 80 years of Napa Valley winemaking history and meet the people who elevated Napa Valley to one of the most prestigious wine regions of the world.

A once-in-a-lifetime offering, not only does this lot contains exclusive library selections that represent the most notable moments of legendary winemakers’ careers but also the opportunity to get to know the people behind these wines, right in the wineries and homes that have made Napa Valley history. You’ll be warmly embraced by both the history of fine winemaking in Napa Valley and the constant play of tradition and innovation that permeates our current winemaking culture.

With exclusive three-nights accommodation at Hourglass guest house, your own private driver and vehicle for three days, a multitude of vintner-hosted tastings, lunches and dinners, this is the ultimate dream for any serious Napa Valley wine collector and five of their lucky companions.

Your deep Napa immersion will begin at the Napa Valley Reserve at Meadowood with a masterclass taught by Kelli White, author of Napa’s most definitive historical treatise, Napa Valley, Then & Now. Kelli will then escort you through a series of tastings that day as your personal guide through Napa. Your three-day visit will include exclusive tasting experiences at Inglenook, Heitz Cellar, Hourglass, JJ Cohn, Shafer Vineyards, Kongsgaard and Continuum Estate.

And that’s not even the most impressive part of this lot. Let’s talk about the wine:

Beginning in 1959 with one of the rarest bottlings of Napa Valley Cabernet, some argue this Inglenook wine is the greatest Napa Cabernet ever produced.

The 1966 Robert Mondavi Winery Cabernet Sauvignon was their inaugural vintage that launched the modern wine era and led to a storied history of Napa Valley winemaking.

Speaking of making history, included in this lot is a bottle of 1969 Schramsberg Vineyards Blanc de Blancs, also known as the wine that Nixon and Kissinger used to toast the opening of diplomatic relations with China in 1972.

The 1974 Heitz Cellar Martha’s Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon is one of the most heralded vineyards and wines from the greatest vintage of the 70s. It’s the perfect companion to a magnum of 1978 Mayacamas Vineyards Chardonnay, known as one of the greatest producers and vintages of Chardonnay of all time.

We’ll make a stopover into the 80s to showcase 1985 Groth Vineyards & Winery Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa’s very first 100-point wine and one of the last 15 bottles from the Groth cellar. Speaking of hard-to-find wines, your collection also includes a bottle of 1997 Hourglass Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, one of only 26 remaining bottles in the cellar (which founder Jeff Smith may give you a peek of during your stay at the Hourglass guest house).

The 90s brought in an era of “cult wines” — and what better way to represent this transformative period than 1991 Harlan Estate Cabernet Sauvignon and 1992 Screaming Eagle Cabernet Sauvignon? The 1991 Harlan was only the second vintage (released in 1996 alongside the 1990 first vintage) while the 1992 Screaming Eagle was the first vintage and set the record for the most expensive single bottle of Napa Cabernet ever auctioned at $500,000 for an imperial (6L) bottle. These wines changed the landscape of Napa Valley in the 1990s.

Scarecrow ushers in the newest wave of Napa cult wines with the 2003 Scarecrow Cabernet Sauvignon, which you can hear all about over tea and popovers with Owner Bret Lopez and Co-Founder Mimi DeBlasio at their iconic JJ Cohn estate house.

Last but not least, leading you into the more modern era of Napa Valley, your collection includes the 100-point 2016 Shafer Vineyards Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon, produced by one of the first vintners to unlock the greatness of hillside farming. And we wouldn’t let you walk away with Napa Valley’s most iconic collection of wines without a bottle of 2021 Kongsgaard The Judge, which you will get to taste alongside legendary winemaker John Kongsgaard.

Without a doubt, this impressive collection of library wines will make your cellar a coveted repository of Napa Valley’s past and present.

Special thanks to:

Robin & Erin Lail, Lail Vineyards

Hugh & Monique Davies, Schramsberg Vineyards

Carlton McCoy, MS, Lawrence Wine Estates

Suzanne Groth, Groth Vineyards & Winery

Harlan Family, Harlan Estate

Jeff Smith & Carolyn Duryea, Hourglass

Bret Lopez & Mimi DeBlasio, Scarecrow

Doug Shafer, Shafer Vineyards

John Kongsgaard, Kongsgaard

Kelli White

Donor Estimate of Fair Market Value: $47,335.00