2023 Hobel Cabernet Sauvignon The Birdseye

The 2023 vintage in Napa Valley delivered all the hallmarks of a benchmark growing season — wines with depth and power, precision and polish, refined fruit expression, and an elegant, floral lift on the finish. abundant late-winter and early-spring rains delayed budbreak by two to three weeks, setting the stage for a slow, steady season. Cool spring weather encouraged healthy canopy growth and a slightly above-average fruit set. Vineyard teams carefully thinned leaves and lateral shoots, opening the vines to dappled light and fresh air.

Summer continued the gentle pattern, with cooler-than-average temperatures and virtually no heat spikes. Clusters sized up beautifully and moved through veraison evenly. Crews fine-tuned canopies and balanced crop loads with meticulous care, ensuring the vines were in perfect harmony with nature.

All of our vineyards were lucky to have similar paths through harvest. By September, the fruit was maturing at an unhurried pace, deepening in color and complexity week by week. We walked all the vineyard rows often, tasting berries and monitoring acidity and sugars, waiting for that perfect moment when flavor, freshness, and structure aligned.

All fruit was picked at night, arriving cool and pristine at the winery. From there, we crafted the wines with confidence, knowing we had the raw material for something truly memorable. The 2023 vintage is one to savor and celebrate — a testament to patience, precision, and the quiet power of a near-perfect season.

After the heartbreak of producing no wine in 2020 due to the fires, followed by the tiny yields of 2021 and a challenging 2022 where we bottled only a single wine, it’s deeply rewarding to be back in 2023 with a full complement of Hobel wines — and at such a high level of quality.

The 2023 season was as close to ideal as one could hope for in Napa Valley. A cool, steady growing season with no extreme heat allowed the fruit to ripen slowly, building depth, complexity, and balance in every block. Each vineyard delivered its own signature — from the vibrant, floral energy of The Joist to the structured elegance of The Birdseye, the power and muscle of The Cut, and the brooding, layered sophistication of The Figure.

This is a vintage that reminds Cameron, Bahaneh and I why we love making wine here. The wines are expressive, complete, and built to age — the kind of vintage we’ll be talking about for years to come.