Coming exclusively from the Tench Vineyard in Oakville. A stone’s throw from Screaming Eagle, RUDD Estate, and Bond’s St. Eden Vineyard along the Oakville Cross Road at the juncture of the Silverado Trail. The characteristic Oakville stamp is at the center of this wine, lush black fruit (blackberry and cherry), violets, herbs and sweet tobacco leaves that lean toward a purple and black opulence. There is a wonderful minerality present with hints of cedar that is characteristic of clone 7 wines. It is in the finish where the wine really shines with firm muscle and structure, allowing this wine to age gracefully for many years to come. Drink now or cellar for 8-15 years. Aged in 80% new French oak barrels for 20 months.

Jeb Dunnuck 95 Points

About Riverain

Riverain was founded by several friends who originally connected in Orange County through the world of wine, Steve Nordhoff (founding attorney of Nordhoff Bengfort, a Newport Beach based legal firm) and Dean Gray (worked in the field of consumer packaging, initially for Proctor and Gamble) and Dean’s wife Laurie (who captured the lovely photographs for some of the Riverain labels). Their inaugural vintage was in 2011 – merely two wines, a Cabernet Sauvignon from Tench Vineyard in Oakville and a Syrah from the Cardiac Hill Vineyard in Bennett Valley (neighboring Sonoma County). Production has grown slowly over the years, but still remains small (a typical vintage is around 500 to 600 cases in total) and in addition to their Cabernet Sauvignon has evolved to also include a Sauvignon Blanc and a Pinot Noir.

Dean’s son Scott is the face of the brand in the Napa Valley – he lives and works in the valley having spent 2 years working with winemaker Thomas Brown at Outpost Winery in the cellar and more recently as cellar master at Mending Wall Winery. He is also directly involved in helping craft the Riverain wines.

According to Scott, Steve is the ‘wine geek’ in the group and was already familiar with Thomas Brown and a number of the wines he produced for various clients. When it was time to get serious about their brand, Steve, Dean and Thomas met at Press Restaurant in St. Helena. Steve and Dean decided to partner in the business and Thomas agreed to be the winemaker. He has made their wines since the first vintage.

Thomas is one of the busiest wine makers in the Napa Valley. Several producers have showed us lists of all the Napa brands that he consults for and or provides direct winemaking services; this is an extensive list. Originally from Sumter, South Carolina – he developed an interest in wine while attending the University of Virginia where his major was not wine related (he studied English and Economics).

He moved to the Napa Valley in 1996 and took a job at All Seasons Bistro in Calistoga (known for their California cuisine, wine selection and long time in business – but unfortunately permanently closed in 2020). While there, Thomas met winemaker Ehren Jordan who was working for Larry Turley at the time of Turley Wine Cellars. Thomas took a job with Ehren in the cellar at Turley in 1997 – spent several years there before beginning his own career and starting to consult for various clients (some of which were clients that Ehren was already working with).

And within only 10 years of making wine in the Napa Valley Thomas received two 100 point scores from Robert Parker – regardless of what your perception is of scores, creating several wines within a short period of time that receive 100 points from Parker was a watershed moment in Thomas’s consulting career.

Today Thomas is highly sought after for his winemaking services, experience and access to premium area vineyards. And while he was once the student, over the years he has become the teacher. We have met with a number of winemakers who worked under Thomas – and consider him one of their mentors. These are winemakers who have gone on to establish their own brands or consult for other Napa based brands.