Discover Napa Valley's Next Great Cult Wine

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When we recently discussed how to spot the next Napa Valley cult wine, two concepts stood out: winemaker talent and fruit sourcing. It’s simple in theory, but it’s not easy to break into the rarefied air of sought-after labels like Harlan, Bond, Promontory, Screaming Eagle and Opus One. That doesn’t stop wineries from trying. In addition to the nearly 1,000 Napa wine brands that already exist, we’re constantly in contact with producers who claim that the first vintage of their new wine will surely be the next big thing. It’s understandable that we’re skeptical, but that doesn’t mean our eyes—and palates—aren’t always open to the possibility.

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Then came Sign of the Dove, a Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon produced from historic vineyards under the direction of Sonoma winemaker Jesse Katz. The father-and-son team behind the brand, Marc and Jake Taub, selected Katz—whose Devil Proof, Aperture, and Setting wines have earned him a reputation as one of the most accomplished young winemakers in the world—to lead their new project, using fruit from two of Napa’s most sought-after parcels, Beckstoffer Vineyard Georges III Vineyard and Beckstoffer Missouri Hopper Vineyard. Talent meets fruit sourcing. After tasting the first vintage and digging deeper into its history, we can boldly say this is Napa Valley’s next great cult wine.

Katz and Jake met at the Aspen Food & Wine Classic five years ago, and Jake was immediately impressed with Katz’s winemaking style. They also hit it off because Jake and Katz grew up in and around the wine industry. The fourth generation of his family in the wine and spirits business, Jake is the director of business development at Palm Bay International, a wine importing powerhouse. As a child, Katz traveled the world visiting wineries with his father, famed photographer Andy Katz. A few weeks after Jake first met Katz, he and his father traveled to Healdsburg to check out Katz’s Aperture Cellars winery, which was then under construction. Blown away by the facility’s design and cutting-edge technology, the Taubs signed a deal that day for Katz to begin producing small batches of Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon for them.

They’ve put themselves in good hands, as 11 of Katz’s wines have received a total of 17 perfect 100-point scores from various publications, with his 2018 Farrow Ranch Devil Proof Malbec earning top marks from The Wine Advocate, The Wine Independent, and JebDunnuck.com. And in 2021, a six-liter bottle of Katz’s Cabernet Sauvignon fetched $1 million at a charity auction in New Orleans, setting the world record for the most expensive bottle of wine ever sold. Katz says sourcing the fruit for Sign of the Dove was a collaborative effort; the Taubs had contracted with one of the vineyard managers to access what he considers the vineyard’s two best blocks. He also hints at a possible future release, telling Robb Report, “We have other world-class sites that could also join the portfolio in the future.”

The Taubs were drawn to Beckstoffer Vineyards in Oakville because of their provenance and proven track record. “These two vineyards offer such distinct profiles from different parts of the valley that we’ve always loved,” Jake tells Robb Report. “We felt like they were the perfect wines to start our project together.” He explains that Katz has put his own spin on the growing process with trellising techniques that provide an optimal light-to-shade environment for the grapes to allow for slow, even ripening and overall balance.

“The Beckstoffer team is some of the most talented farmers in the world,” Katz says. “I work with them to define the style in the vineyard so we can refine it in the winery. I make all the decisions about the harvest, but we collaborate on all other elements of viticulture throughout the year as a team.” Once the grapes are harvested, they are put through a sophisticated infrared optical sorter to select only the best of the best. “This level of sorting gives us the purest expression of the fruit, without extremes, and allows us to eliminate underripe green berries, stems, leaves, and overripe grapes,” Katz says. He also uses an automated pumping system with air injection “to produce the most concentrated and expressive wines because we can extract when we want and how we want.” He notes that this helps him preserve the wine’s aromas and develop texture throughout the fermentation process. Both wines were aged for 22 months in the cellar: Beckstoffer Vineyard Georges III in 80% new French oak barrels and Beckstoffer Missouri Hopper Vineyard in 100% new French oak barrels.

Sign of the Dove 2021 Beckstoffer Vineyard Georges III Vineyard is an inky purple to the eye and exhibits aromas of Luxardo cherry, raspberry and menthol with a touch of earth. A layer of elegant tannins envelops flavors of cassis, blackberry, dark chocolate and a hint of tobacco leaf that lingers on the long finish. Sign of the Dove 2021 Beckstoffer Vineyard Missouri Hopper Vineyard is a deep garnet color with a purple rim. It offers a bouquet of blackberry, caramel and crushed violet that leads to a gorgeous butterscotch opening note on the palate. Flavors of black cherry, purple plum, milk chocolate, fennel and lavender are set in a layer of velvety tannins that linger on a floral-perfumed finish. If drinking now, decant for 30 minutes before serving. Both wines will age gracefully for another 20 years or more.

Taubs and Katz are keen to keep this offering “in the know.” Aside from the private tasting Jake hosted for Robb Report at Carbone Privato in New York, the wines were submitted to only one rating publication, JebDunnuck.com, which has a more targeted audience than most mainstream wine magazines and sites. The George III received a 97-point rating, while the Missouri Hopper scored 97+, a solid showing for a debut release.

There are several other big-name first-vintage wines coming this season, but as we said above, this is the one we really have our eyes on to accelerate success. The owner and winemaker are both young—Jake is 27, Katz is 40—and they’ll be showcasing Sign of the Dove at private tastings around the country and in Napa and Sonoma. While Jake lets Katz “run the farming and winemaking,” they’re tasting the wines together as they evolve and working on the overall profile. The Taubs chose the name because “taub” is German for “dove,” but Jake also points out that the long-gone New York restaurant Sign of the Dove was a favorite of his grandfather David. The mosaic-inspired dove on the label is an homage to the restaurant’s mosaic floor. Sign of the Dove is full of history in the sourcing of its vineyards, the imagery of its labels and the design of its bottle (which is shaped like David’s favorite wine, Haut-Brion) and we’re here to tell you that it has a long future, too.

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