Winemaker Notes
Chappellet's Pritchard Hill Cabernet Sauvignon has been, since the beginning of their winemaking career, the most sought after wine of their portfolio. The wine is truly a love letter to the winegrowing potential of Pritchard Hill. The wine was inspired by Bordeaux, and like most left bank Bordeaux, the wine is a blend of predominately Cabernet Sauvignon with remaining amounts other classic Bordeaux blend varieties. The vines grow upon rocky, mountainside vineyards. After harvest and fermentation, the wine was aged for 22 months in 100% new French oak barrels.
Blend: 94% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Petit Verdot
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A terrific effort from a challenging vintage, Chappellet's 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon Pritchard Hill—94% Cabernet Sauvignon and 6% Petit Verdot—boasts expressive scents of cassis, blackberries, vanilla and caramel. It's full-bodied, supple, generous, deep and round, expansive on the palate and framed by soft, fully ripe tannins and hints of mocha on the lingering, velvety finish. Showy, impressive and delicious, it should drink well for a couple of decades.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
2022 Chappellet Pritchard Hill Cabernet Sauvignon is deeply evocative from the first swirl, offering layered aromas of black currant, licorice, and subtle mountain spice. The palate is dense yet refined, unfolding in measured tiers of dark fruit, savory nuance, and mineral depth. Tannins are polished and satiny, providing both immediate appeal and long-term structure. The finish is persistent and composed, making this an exceptional partner to a classic entrecôte à la Française with beurre maître d’hôtel and pommes frites. (Best Served: 2025-2040)
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Jeb Dunnuck
The flagship 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon Pritchard Hill brings more density and depth than just about every other wine in the vintage. This brilliant 94% Cabernet Sauvignon and 6% Petit Verdot blend offers darker blue fruits interwoven with graphite, crushed stone-like minerality, and liquid violets. Full-bodied and concentrated on the palate, it has beautiful tannins, a lively sense of freshness and purity, no hard edges, and a great finish. Best after 2-3 years of bottle age, it will drink well for 15+ years.
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James Suckling
The nose is wonderfully complex and deeply scented, with aromas of blackberries, cassis, earth and cedar. The palate is full-bodied with seamless tannins and acidity, giving notes of mocha, graphite, dried herbs and spices. Incredibly balanced and powerful, with underlying freshness. Excellent. Drinkable now, but best from 2028.
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.
One of the most prestigious wines of the world capable of great power and grace, Napa Valley Cabernet is a leading force in the world of fine, famous, collectible red wine. Today the Napa Valley and Cabernet Sauvignon are so intrinsically linked that it is difficult to discuss one without the other. But it wasn’t until the 1970s that this marriage came to light; sudden international recognition rained upon Napa with the victory of the Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars 1973 Cabernet Sauvignon in the 1976 Judgement of Paris.
Cabernet Sauvignon undoubtedly dominates Napa Valley today, covering half of the land under vine, commanding the highest prices per ton and earning the most critical acclaim. Cabernet Sauvignon’s structure, acidity, capacity to thrive in multiple environs and ability to express nuances of vintage make it perfect for Napa Valley where incredible soil and geographical diversity are found and the climate is perfect for grape growing. Within the Napa Valley lie many smaller sub-AVAs that express specific characteristics based on situation, slope and soil—as a perfect example, Rutherford’s famous dust or Stags Leap District's tart cherry flavors.