Dana Estates Cabernet Sauvignon "Montagna Vineyard" Pritchard Hill 2022
(Napa Valley, California) - [JS 98] [JD 95+] [VM 94]

DANA’s Director of Winemaking, Maura Johnson, guides the slow journey from vineyard to bottle in collaboration with renowned winemaking consultant Philippe Melka, who has worked with DANA Estates since the inaugural vintage. Together, DANA’s winemakers bring philosophy into action — working always to enhance the natural essence of every site. Rather than imposing a particular characteristic or house style, our winemaking strives to highlight the purity of the land itself.

All of DANA Estates’ vineyards are farmed organically for optimal vine health. After meticulously timed harvest dates that capture every cluster at its peak, our winemaking team vinifies the free run juice from each site according to its character.

Lotus Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon ferments in concrete tanks to underscore the site’s natural minerality and round off the edges of its powerful tannins. Helms Vineyard Cabernet ferments in upright Taransaud oak tanks, which help to coax out the site’s floral character, bolster the tannic structure, and enhance the dustiness of Rutherford. With fruit from the varied soils and slopes of Hershey Vineyard, single-barrel fermentation allows us to tend each lot according to its needs. Our newest Cabernet addition, Montagna Vineyard, ferments utilizing a blend of concrete and single barrel ferments, highlighting the structured tannins and unique fruit profile while enhancing the vineyard’s complex mineral notes. DANA Sauvignon Blanc ferments in cigar-shaped barrels, a technique borrowed from Sancerre winemaking, to enhance the wine’s texture and finesse.

Montagna Vineyard
Regarded as one of Napa Valley’s most premium and exclusive terroirs, Montagna Vineyard sits 1,300 feet above the valley floor on Pritchard Hill. The terrain is steep and rocky, with red soils rich in volcanic ash and alluvial deposits, providing excellent drainage with limited water retention. Vines are forced to struggle, resulting in smaller yields and more concentrated fruit. Montagna’s elevation allows for a large diurnal temperature variation, preserving acidity and energy within the wine. The unique combination of ideal growing conditions, rugged terrain, and volcanic soils, creates a wine with power, structure, and intense complexity. Adding this prestigious vineyard to our portfolio showcases DANA Estates dedication to creating meticulously balanced wines in Napa Valley’s most distinguished and diverse terroirs.

Ratings and Reviews

98 Points - James Suckling:
"A new wine from high vineyards in Pritchard Hill, with graphite, blackberries, terra cotta, basalt and iodine on the nose. Medium- to full-bodied with a real tannin presence. Muscular and formed, with a great finish. This is a serious new wine. Try after 2028."  (Feb 2025)

95+ Points - Jeb Dunnuck:
"A new cuvée for this team, the 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon Montagne Vineyard comes from an incredible vineyard on Pritchard Hill. As you'd expect, it has plenty of mountain tannins and structure as well as rocking levels of red and black fruits, spicy wood, and crushed stone-like minerality. Full-bodied, concentrated, and nicely balanced, it's one of the few 2022s that needs bottle age. Give bottles 3-4 years and enjoy over the following 15-20. (Drink between 2028-2049)"  (Jan 2025)

94 Points - Vinous Media:
"A new wine in this range, the 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon Montagna Vineyard saturates the palate with inky dark fruit, gravel, incense, chocolate and cedar. It’s a super-typical, representative wine from this district on Pritchard Hill. Huge, muscular tannins wrap it all together. This extroverted Cabernet is very promising. (Drink between 2027-2037)." - Antonio Galloni (Dec 2024)