Winemaker Notes
Blended from the traditional Bordeaux varietals, including Chappellet's own coveted grapes, the Mountain Cuvee Proprietor’s Blend builds on five decades of experience crafting great Napa County mountain-grown wines. The grapes come from the Pritchard Hill Estate, Stagecoach, Broken Rock, Sugarload, and Murray Ranch. Each component varietal in the cuvée contributes to nuances that complement each other. The result is a complex array of aromas and flavors that deliver pure pleasure in a glass. Made for more near-term enjoyment, this is the wine to choose when you’re looking for vivid, mouth-filling fruit flavors.
Professional Ratings
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
The 2023 Chappellet Mountain Cuvée Proprietor's Blend is a striking expression of Bordeaux varietals. Deep garnet in color, it opens with aromatic spices and ripe red and black fruits, complemented by elegant oak accents. Medium-bodied with impressive structure, the palate reveals a core of black fruit and toasty oak, finishing long and firmly balanced. This wine pairs beautifully with Wagyu beef drizzled in a soy-mirin reduction, where its spice, richness, and firm backbone complement the dish's umami intensity and savory depth. Tasted: July 18, 2025, San Francisco, CA)
The Chappellets' romance with Pritchard Hill began when Donn and Molly Chappellet first glimpsed the mountain's spectacular vistas in the late 1960s. Inspired by the notion that Bacchus loves the hills, Donn and Molly followed the advice of legendary winemaker André Tchelistcheff and settled on the rocky eastern slopes of the Napa Valley. There, on the mountain’s serene and picturesque hillsides, the Chappellets established their home and winery, raising their children and cultivating the vineyards.
Since being founded by Donn and Molly in 1967, Chappellet has earned acclaim championing the robust power and complexity of wines crafted from mountain grapes. At the same time, Chappellet has helped to establish Pritchard Hill as one of California’s most revered winegrowing sites. To honor the mountain's rich, expressive character, the winemaking team focuses on creating extraordinary, age-worthy Cabernet Sauvignons that embody the intensity and finesse of fruit from Pritchard Hill.
Undoubtedly proving its merit over and over, Napa Valley is a now a leading force in the world of prestigious red wine regions. Though Cabernet Sauvignon dominates Napa Valley, other red varieties certainly thrive here. Important but often overlooked include Merlot and other Bordeaux varieties well-regarded on their own as well as for their blending capacities. Very old vine Zinfandel represents an important historical stronghold for the region and Pinot noir is produced in the cooler southern parts, close to the San Pablo Bay.
Perfectly situated running north to south, the valley acts as a corridor, pulling cool, moist air up from the San Pablo Bay in the evenings during the hot days of the growing season, which leads to even and slow grape ripening. Furthermore the valley claims over 100 soil variations including layers of volcanic, gravel, sand and silt—a combination excellent for world-class red wine production.