While priced at $120–140 at release and now selling for more, this is an “entry level” pour in the rarefied realm of Napa Valley corps d’élite. Whatever your wallet or proclivities, it will be worth it. This is voluptuous and refined, nuanced and vibrantly delicious—such juxtaposed qualities demonstrate high-level skills from a prestigious vineyard and a consequential cellar. And why you have to pay $120 or more to enjoy it.
This is not a bombastic power-and-price trophy, but it may be one you enjoy more. The polished tannins, comparatively restrained alcohol, and delectable dark fruits play in the big leagues without the overwhelming ostentation that can pervade some premier Napa efforts. Consider this is a serious wine you and your partner can enjoy with a nice steak to celebrate a good week, rather than a bottle spotlighted in your cellar to show off instead of drinking.
Moone-Tsai was founded in 2003 by Larry and MaryAnn Tsai in partnership with wine industry veteran Mike Moone. MaryAnn grew up in a spirited Italian family in Boston, and while she helped tend her grandmother’s small vineyard in her youth, it was not until a study-abroad program at the University of Angers in the Loire Valley that she began to imagine a future in wine. She went on to earn an MBA from Harvard Business School, with sights on pursuing entrepreneurship in the wine industry.
Larry Tsai is a first-generation Chinese American from the North Shore of Long Island. He quips his early encounter with wine was Cold Duck on New Year’s Eve. Then, while he worked as a teenage busboy at a white-tablecloth restaurant, a waiter invited him to taste a Château Figeac paired with roast beef. At that moment, Larry realized he was “a Californian trapped in a New Yorker’s body” and went on to earn a degree in economics at Princeton and an MBA at Stanford, also with wine in mind.
The couple met at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and set forth to realize shared wine dreams. They moved to Napa in 1989, where MaryAnn joined Beringer Wine Estates and worked under Mike Moone. Larry managed the Napa Valley Opera House and worked with Fortune 500 companies and gourmet food enterprises. In 2003, Larry and MaryAnn launched their own label with Mike Moone as a co-founder. Moone eventually sold his share after the 2017 Napa fires and, today, the Tsais are the sole proprietors. Philippe Melka is the winemaker in an unusual arrangement. Melka traditionally works as an elite consultant to prestige clients, but he is the dedicated winemaker and close friend at Moone-Tsai. Melka says his goal is to make wine that is neither overly tannic nor overly oaked. This effort certainly bears that out.
Moone-Tsai Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley 2021: Deep purple, inky ruby color; black fruits galore, blackberry, black cherry, plum, dark chocolate, licorice, vanilla, cedar, graphite, minerality on the nose and palate.
Dry; smooth, fine-grained tannins nicely integrate with appropriate acidity. Medium-plus to full body. Great aging potential—just entering its early drinking window after five years. Blend of 82% cabernet sauvignon, 9% petit verdot, 6% cabernet franc, 3% merlot, primarily sourced from Block 15 of the Caldwell Vineyard in Coombsville, a cool-climate site near San Pablo Bay with volcanic soils that engender deep, dark fruit and the velvety tannins found in this effort. Wine spent 18 months in French oak, 50% new. 14.6% ABV
Pairing—Red meats, ribeye, filet mignon with demi-glace, slow-roasted prime rib, lamb chops, gourmet burgers; slow-cooked brisket, barbecue ribs—beef and pork alike; venison, duck breast with dark cherry sauce. Creamy mushroom risotto, eggplant parmesan, lentil dishes. Avoid delicate fish, raw oysters, very spicy dishes. Cheese—Aged cheddar, aged gouda, parmigiano-reggiano, aged ossau-iraty, manchego; mild blue cheese, stilton, gorgonzola dolce.
