Levy & McClellan Lazy Monkey Cabernet Sauvignon

Bob Levy and Martha McClellan — the winemaking architects behind Harlan Estate and Sloan respectively — planted six acres on a former horse stable off Franz Valley School Road in 1999, with viticulturist David Abreu overseeing the initial setup. The site sits at approximately 500 feet in the western foothills of the Mayacamas Mountains, where Aiken Loam over compressed tufa anchors the Cabernet Sauvignon blocks; the compressed tufa restricts root expansion, stressing vines toward the 1–2 tons-per-acre yields that define the wine's concentration. Cool Pacific air funnels through the Calistoga Gap between Diamond Mountain and Mount St. Helena, moderating what would otherwise be a very warm growing environment and preserving acidity in the fruit.

The winemaking signature is the technique that sets Levy & McClellan apart from every other Napa producer: grapes are hand-loaded into new 225L French oak barrels (Taransaud and Djarnajou cooperages), the heads sealed, and the barrels rolled on rollers throughout fermentation — replacing punch-downs and pump-overs entirely. It takes three to four fermentation barrels to fill a single aging barrel, concentrating the selection further. The wine is bottled unfined and unfiltered, preserving the textural complexity built during that barrel-rolling process.

No 2009-specific vintage notes are confirmed in the producer record; at 15+ years of age, this mountain-grown Cabernet is well into its secondary development window, with the compressed-tufa tannin structure likely softened into the silky architecture the technique was designed to produce.