Jeremy Nickel Cellars estate spotlight
An architectural film of The Vineyard House, Jeremy Nickel's Oakville estate and the house behind this Jeremy Nickel Cellars Cabernet.
The market on this bottle
Wine-Searcher tracks this 2018 Jeremy Nickel Cellars Cabernet, Napa Valley across the open market. Their published U.S. low is $59.58 and the average is $72.82. Our slash is $65.00.
2018 Jeremy Nickel Cellars Cabernet, Napa Valley
Philippe Melka's Oakville Cabernet for Jeremy Nickel Cellars, a 2018 you can open at sixty-five dollars.
The 2018 Jeremy Nickel Cellars is 76 percent Cabernet Sauvignon with 24 percent Cabernet Franc from Oakville: black currant, fig, tobacco, vanilla bean, cedar, and eucalyptus after 30 months in 50 percent new French oak, now $65.
Halter Valley Oakville, Melka in the cellar, eight years in glass
Jeremy Nickel Cellars is Jeremy's Oakville Cabernet from the same Halter Valley world as The Vineyard House. Philippe Melka vinifies it. The 2018 is 76 percent Cabernet Sauvignon with 24 percent Cabernet Franc, aged 30 months in 50 percent new French oak, then time in bottle. The house note is tobacco, vanilla bean, coconut, cedar, oregano, coffee, and eucalyptus over black currant and fig, then opulent, controlled tannin. 2018 was a calm, even Napa Cabernet year after 2017. This is the bottle that makes Oakville feel reachable at sixty-five dollars.
The house
Jeremy Nickel is Gil Nickel's son. He built The Vineyard House and Jeremy Nickel Cellars on Halter Valley Oakville land, not as a Far Niente second label.
The wine
76% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Cabernet Franc. 30 months in 50% new French oak. Melka in the cellar.
The vintage
2018 was an even Napa Cabernet year. Eight years in glass have moved fig, cedar, and tobacco into something quieter than young power.
The drinker
Currant and cedar first. Decant 45 to 60 minutes. Serve 60 to 64 F. Prime rib or rack of lamb.
Currant and fig, then cedar, tobacco, and eucalyptus
The house opens on tobacco, vanilla bean, coconut, cedar, oregano, coffee, and eucalyptus, then black currant and fig on opulent, controlled tannin with a smooth medium-length close. Eight years have knitted the 50 percent new oak into spice instead of a scream.
A long, even Napa Cabernet year after the fires of 2017. Cool spring, slow harvest, phenolics without jam. The 2018 now drinks as density and spice rather than primary fruit.
Black currant, fig, blackberry, tobacco, vanilla bean, cedar, eucalyptus, coffee.
Full, 30 months French oak, 50% new, Cabernet Franc lift, eight years in bottle.
Cedar, coconut, oregano. Decant 45 to 60 minutes. Serve 60 to 64 F.
Melka's oak and Franc lift on Halter Valley fruit
Philippe Melka builds wines from soil, slope, and exposure. On this 2018 that means Oakville density with Cabernet Franc perfume: currant, fig, graphite, and tannins that feel sculpted after 30 months in 50 percent new French oak. The 2018 has had eight years to settle the barrel into cedar and tobacco.
Seventy-six percent Cabernet Sauvignon and 24 percent Cabernet Franc. Thirty months in French oak weave the wine without burying the place.
Forty-five to 60 minutes of air is for eucalyptus and cedar. Serve 60 to 64 F in a Bordeaux stem.
Gil Nickel's son, his own Oakville chapter
Jeremy Nickel did not bottle this as a vanity label. He bottled it as a continuation of place his father left him in Halter Valley.
Gil Nickel helped define modern Napa through Far Niente, Dolce, and Nickel and Nickel. When he died in 2003 he left Jeremy the Halter Valley house and land.
Jeremy's chapter is personal: The Vineyard House on historic Oakville ground, and Jeremy Nickel Cellars as the Cabernet that carries his name.
The 2018 is that story after 30 months in oak and eight years in glass.
Roasted meat, rosemary, and a quiet table
This Cabernet wants ribeye, lamb, garlic, and jus. Dark fruit flatters richness. Cedar and eucalyptus keep the plate from going heavy.
Two plates. One butter-basted ribeye. One rosemary lamb chop. Both can take Oakville tannin.
Decant 45 to 60 minutes. Serve 60 to 64 F in a Bordeaux stem.
Butter-Basted Ribeye
A hard crust, butter, and thyme. Jeremy Nickel's steakhouse landing.
Why it works: Fat and char cushion Cabernet tannin while browned beef pulls currant, cedar, and tobacco through the glass.
View Recipe for butter-basted ribeye (opens in a new tab)
Rosemary Garlic Lamb Chops
Herb-crusted lamb for Cabernet Franc's eucalyptus and oregano.
Why it works: Lamb fat rounds the tannin. Rosemary echoes cedar and the herbal close.
View Recipe for rosemary garlic lamb chops (opens in a new tab)Put this Jeremy Nickel Cabernet in the cart
Halter Valley Oakville. Philippe Melka. Eight years in bottle. Sixty-five dollars.
Put it in the cart. This is Jeremy's Oakville Cabernet for a table that wants the neighborhood without a cult tax.
