Pilcrow, Cabernet Sauvignon, 'Glass Rock'

Napa Cabernet is one of the great terroirs on earth—but only when the right minds are involved does it rise to that level. I first tasted the Pilcrow 2022 Glass Rock Cabernet on set with Sara and Jonah Beer while filming an upcoming episode of Vino Bros—and even for someone who’s followed Pilcrow closely for years, what they pulled off in 2022 resonated with me in a way Napa rarely does anymore. This is not polite, sweet, polished Napa Cabernet. This is structured, lava-blood, bones-and-stone Cabernet—in the best way, while still shockingly drinkable. There is nothing else like it being made at this level right now. Think old-school Dominus or a top-classified Pauillac in a top vintage—this is that tier of seriousness. The Glass Rock site in Coombsville ripped the full potential straight out of the 2022 season: volcanic rock, living soils, deep-rooted vines built to handle the heat—a vineyard so alive it feels like it’s breathing under your feet. If you’ve grown hesitant about Napa Cab because the price-to-quality equation so often misses, this is the horse to bet on. It delivers massive pleasure now—and ten or twenty years from now, this is the bottle you’ll still be talking about. And if you love classic Cabernet from Bordeaux or old-school Napa from the ’70s, ’80s, and early ’90s—this is your wine. Trust me.

Napa Valley stretches from the cooling waters of San Pablo Bay all the way north to Calistoga, gaining roughly one degree of warmth with each mile inland. To the west, the Mayacamas Mountains rise with Mount Veeder, Spring Mountain, and Diamond Mountain. To the east, the Vaca Range delivers Atlas Peak, Howell Mountain, and a constellation of volcanic hilltop sites. At the heart of the valley floor lie Rutherford, Oakville, and St. Helena. But it’s the younger, quietly radical Coombsville AVA that has become a favorite among Napa’s most thoughtful winemakers. Here, rocky volcanic soils and relentless afternoon bay winds preserve freshness, frame, and longevity. Glass Rock itself sits on the terraced remains of an ancient volcanic mega-slide layered with silica-rich stone—jasper, quartz, and multi-colored agate—giving the wine its unmistakable iron-toned minerality and inner tension. The vineyard is owned by entrepreneur and recording artist Elliott Taylor and his partner, acclaimed singer-songwriter Skylar Grey, who entrusted Sara and Jonah Beer to bring its true potential fully to life.

Pilcrow is a deliberate love letter to the Napa Valley of the 1950s and ’60s—before the arms race of alcohol, extraction, and oak took hold—when Cabernet was defined by brightness, tension, savory depth, and quiet authority. At the helm, Sara Beer and Jonah Beer farm with conviction: organic, dry-farmed, non-hedged, true no-till viticulture with full animal integration and regenerative intent, guided by Thomas Comme of the legendary Château Pontet-Canet lineage. Massive steer roam the vineyard to bring microbial life back into the soils, driving vine health from the ground up the old way—slowly, naturally, and permanently. In the cellar, they reject modern cosmetics: no extended maceration, no micro-oxygenation, no residual sugar, no flavor-engineered oak. The 2022 Glass Rock is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, picked on the early side for freshness, aged in partial new French oak (about 40%), bottled at just under 13% alcohol, with minimal sulfur, no fining, no filtration—and only 229 cases produced. This is Cabernet built on restraint, tension, and faith in the vineyard—wine made for decades, not headlines.

In the glass, the 2022 Glass Rock Cabernet is deep purple-black with deep aromatics of blackcurrant, wilted violets, wild herbs, damp earth, crushed stone, tobacco leaf, cocoa powder, and a deep iron-rich mineral imprint that feels carved from the site itself. The palate is lifted yet commanding—fluid and energetic with firm, finely grained tannins, exceptional mid-palate density, and a line of grippy acidity that carries the wine effortlessly through a long, mineral-charged finish. Tasted blind, I would place this squarely on the Left Bank in Pauillac: structure first, fruit second, earth always present—simply near-perfect Cabernet in the end. Pair it with dry-aged ribeye, charcoal-grilled lamb, or slow-braised short ribs. Or do what I’ll be doing—open it late at night with nothing but a great glass, some silence, and a plate of proper French cheese. This is a monumental Napa Cabernet that drinks with Old World gravity and New World clarity—and will only grow more profound with time. Do not miss this.