Domineered by scents of ripe cherries and loamy earth, the 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Signature is a strong effort, a blend of 79% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Petit Verdot, 7% Malbec and 6% Merlot. Medium to full-bodied, with an appealingly taut structure and silky tannins, it should be approachable young yet capable of aging for more than a decade.

The pioneering Pritchard Hill winery, with vineyards established in 1964 and the winery built in 1968, Chappellet was on its own for years, perched at up to 1,800 feet above sea level. The property encompasses two 320-acre parcels, with the striking winery on the original Pritchard farm parcel, yet only 104 acres have been developed as vineyards. The vineyards have been certified organic since 2012, while the winery's solar panels offset 100% of the winery's electric bill.

On this visit, Chief Operating Officer Dominic Chappellet and VP of Winemaking Phillip Corallo-Titus—who has been with the winery for more than 30 years—not only showed me the facilities and vineyards but also poured a selection of older wines as well as current releases. Corallo-Titus compared the 2021 wines to those made in 1976 and 2013. "It was a drought, and a pretty bad drought," he said. "They're big wines, kind of a warm vintage, tiny berries and a lot of tannin. The hardest part was getting the tannins soft enough. We had to pull back on extraction."