Terlato Episode estate spotlight
Winemaker Marisa Taylor is on camera at Rutherford Hill, a Terlato estate, discussing Episode, the same family flagship as this 2016 Napa red.
The market on this bottle
Wine-Searcher tracks this 2016 Terlato Family Vineyards Episode Napa Valley across the open market. Their published U.S. low is $150.55 and the average is $150.55. Our slash is $150.00.
2016 Terlato Family Vineyards Episode Napa Valley, USA
Marisa Taylor's Cabernet-led Terlato flagship, Michel Rolland consulting, a 2016 you can open at one hundred fifty dollars.
The 2016 Episode is 70 percent Cabernet Sauvignon with Merlot, Petit Verdot, and Cabernet Franc: baked black cherry, cassis, cedar, and cigar box after 21 months in new French oak, now $150.
A mature Napa flagship, already inside its published window
Episode is the Terlato family's Cabernet-led Napa statement, not a second label. Wine Advocate gave the 2016 93+ for baked black cherry, warm plum, cassis, cedar, cigar box, and a long savory close, with a 2023 to 2043 window. Ten years in bottle have already done the waiting. This is the bottle that argues for Chimney Rock and Rutherford Hill fruit in one glass, priced so you can actually pull the cork.
The house
Tony Terlato built a luxury-wine house from Chicago shelves to Napa estates. Episode concentrates Chimney Rock, Rutherford Hill, and Alder Ridge fruit into one flagship red.
The wine
70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot, 5% Cabernet Franc. 21 months in 100% new French oak. 15% ABV. Marisa Taylor, Michel Rolland consulting.
The scores
Wine Advocate 93+ on this exact 2016. Published window 2023 to 2043.
The drinker
Black cherry and cedar first. Decant 60 to 90 minutes. Serve 60 to 64 F. Short ribs or a hard-seared steak.
Dark fruit, then cedar and a savory close
Wine Advocate found baked black cherry, warm plum, and cassis under cedar, cigar box, sandalwood, potpourri, and star anise. The palate is full and richly fruited, with a firm chewy frame and a long savory finish that still wants air.
Napa Valley Vintners called 2016 a near-perfect growing season: a mild July and August, then warm finishing days that brought vineyards to ripeness before October rain. That year still shows as generous fruit with a resilient frame.
Baked black cherry, warm plum, cassis, cedar, cigar box, sandalwood, star anise.
Full, 15% ABV, firm chewy tannin, 21 months new French oak, concentrated black fruit.
Long and savory. Decant 60 to 90 minutes. Serve 60 to 64 F.
Cabernet architecture, then 21 months of new French oak
On the published sheet, Episode is 70 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, 20 percent Merlot, 5 percent Petit Verdot, and 5 percent Cabernet Franc. Cabernet sets cassis and black cherry. Merlot fills the middle. Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc add spice, graphite, and lift. The 2016 spent 21 months in 100 percent new French oak. That elevage is why cedar, cocoa, and cigar box sit on the fruit instead of burying it.
Marisa Taylor made the wine with Michel Rolland consulting. Fruit from Chimney Rock, Rutherford Hill, and Alder Ridge is the Napa chapter in one blend.
At 15 percent alcohol the wine is generous, but the best feature is control. Firm tannin and a long savory close make 60 to 90 minutes of air a useful service choice, not a rescue.
From a Chicago wine shop to a Napa flagship
Episode is how the Terlato family put a luxury-wine point of view into one Cabernet-led Napa bottle.
In 1938 Anthony Paterno opened a Chicago retail store that became the family's starting point in fine wine. Tony Terlato later shaped that business into an international luxury-wine house.
Terlato added Rutherford Hill, founded in 1972, and Chimney Rock in the Stags Leap District. Episode concentrates that Napa chapter into one red.
The 2016 is that flagship after ten years in bottle: Cabernet-led, new-oak polished, still inside Wine Advocate's published window.
Give it char, fat, and a long braise
A mature Cabernet-led Napa red wants browned beef and collagen, not a light bird. A hard sear or a slow short-rib pot pulls cedar, cassis, and savory tannin into place.
Two plates. One pan-seared steak. One pot of short ribs. Both can take Episode's dark fruit and oak.
Decant 60 to 90 minutes. Serve 60 to 64 F. Use large stems. Air is for cedar and the savory close.
Pan-Seared, Butter-Basted Thick-Cut Steak
A skillet steak, coarse salt, and a hard crust. Episode's classic landing.
Why it works: Beef fat softens chewy tannin. Char pulls cassis, cedar, and cigar box through the new oak.
View Recipe for butter-basted pan-seared steak (opens in a new tab)
Red Wine-Braised Short Ribs
A slow braise when the 2016 is the whole table wine.
Why it works: The reduced sauce mirrors dark fruit while richness meets the firm, savory frame.
View Recipe for red wine braised short ribs (opens in a new tab)Put this Napa flagship in the cart
Wine Advocate 93+. Twenty-one months new French oak. One hundred fifty dollars against a $225 typical retail.
Put it in the cart. This is the Terlato bottle for a table that wants a mature Napa flagship, not a slogan.
