Sterling Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Red Wine

Begin with the valley, since it is written straight into the name. Napa Valley runs only about thirty miles from end to end, and even across that short stretch the flat floor, the hillsides, and the mountain plots ripen their fruit under quite different conditions. The climate is dry and Mediterranean: cool air off San Pablo Bay reaches the southern end, the afternoons grow warmer toward the north, and fog pulls the overnight temperatures back down. It has been a federally recognized growing area since 1981, with seventeen smaller districts now drawn inside its border, so the valley name marks the origin while a narrower one would give a closer reading of place.

Sterling Vineyards says the winery was founded here in 1964. That is the year the company began, not the age of a particular planting or the vintage now in the bottle. In September 2026 we checked one stores for it, and the lower of the shelf prices then was $41.99.

The grape is Cabernet Sauvignon, a red grown across many parts of the wine world. Our grape research describes it as a variety that often produces firm, solidly built reds and is frequently blended with other grapes. On flavor, regional authorities point to black currant, cherry, and plum as the usual fruit notes, together with noticeable tannin and possible spice from oak. The same authorities add that how ripe the grapes are picked, the climate behind them, and the calls made in the cellar can leave a Cabernet either lean and herbal in style or broad and fruit-led.

The higher reading, from those same September 2026 checks, was $41.99. No shopper rating is available for this bottle in the store listing, so there is no score to set beside the asking price.

Sterling Vineyards' own retail site turns up a gap worth stating plainly rather than papering over. That site sells only its Reserve, Single Vineyard and Platinum tiers, and the lowest price there for any Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, an appellation-level bottling similar in name to this one, was $45 a bottle when we checked on August 17, 2026, above the $41.99 to $41.99 range we have recorded for this bottle on the grocery shelf. Because we cannot confirm the two are the same wine, we are not carrying that listing's tasting notes or alcohol figure over to this one. What we can say company-wide: Sterling names Lauren Kopit, a UC Davis-trained winemaker who joined the company in 2014, as its winemaker, and its estate vineyards climb the Diamond Mountain and Calistoga hillsides north of the town of Calistoga; whether this particular bottle draws on those specific blocks is not something the winery's site confirms.

Our call: buy this for the Napa Valley appellation on the label and the winery's stated 1964 founding, if that provenance is enough on its own. Pass if you want the producer's own tasting notes or winemaking detail behind the specific bottle in your cart; Sterling's own site prices a similarly named Napa Valley Cabernet above what we have recorded here, so we cannot confirm the two are the same wine, and no shopper rating has reached our record either.

The Grocery Store Wine Desk · written Sep 16, 2026 from our research file for this wine. Numbers reflect our latest checks.