Provenance Vineyards house spotlight
2018 Provenance Vineyards 'Deadeye' Napa Valley
Provenance's Deadeye, blackcurrant and mint-chocolate from Napa lots, a 92-point 2018 you can open at fifteen dollars.
The 2018 Deadeye is a Napa Valley red blend from St. Helena, Howell Mountain, Oakville, and Spring Mountain lots: ripe black cherry, blackberry, dark chocolate, clove, and vanilla bean, now $15.
A Napa blend with a crosshair, not a leftover bin
Deadeye lives at the intersection of vineyard selection and blending. The icon is the Provenance crosshair over the O, the house mark for precision. Lots come from St. Helena, Howell Mountain, Oakville, and Spring Mountain. James Suckling 92: ripe blackcurrant, stewed blackberry, mint-chocolate, charred bark, mocha, full-bodied, round sleek tannins, bitter chocolate and dark berry on a chewy finish. This is the bottle that argues a Napa red blend can still be fifteen dollars after time in glass.
The house
Provenance Vineyards is a Rutherford Napa house. Deadeye is the blend built from selected lots, not a single-vineyard Cabernet.
The wine
Napa Valley red blend. Black cherry, blackberry, dark chocolate, clove, vanilla bean. Chewy, round, plush.
The scores
James Suckling 92. Drink from 2023. Bitter chocolate and dark berry on a chewy close.
The drinker
Decant 20 to 30 minutes. Serve 60 to 64 F. Ribeye or short ribs.
Blackcurrant and mint-chocolate, then a chewy close
The winery opens on ripe black cherry, blackberry, and dark chocolate, with clove and spice, then structured tannin, red berry, and vanilla bean. James Suckling found ripe blackcurrant, stewed blackberry, mint-chocolate, charred bark, and mocha, full-bodied with round, sleek tannins and a chewy bitter-chocolate finish.
A generous Napa red year. Eight years on, Deadeye still has fruit, chocolate, and tannin that want a little air rather than a long cellar speech.
Blackcurrant, blackberry, black cherry, mint-chocolate, mocha, clove.
Full, round, sleek tannin, chewy, plush mid-palate.
Bitter chocolate, dark berry, charred bark. Decant 20 to 30 minutes. Serve 60 to 64 F.
Selected lots, then a blender's aim
Provenance builds Deadeye from specific lots across outstanding Napa Valley vineyards, including St. Helena, Howell Mountain, Oakville, and Spring Mountain. The name is the crosshair in the house logo: blending as precision, not leftover juice. The 2018 shows that idea after time in bottle: black fruit, chocolate, mint, and tannin that have come together.
The winery wants a chewy, round, plush Napa red. Suckling wanted it to come together from 2023. It has.
Decant 20 to 30 minutes. Serve 60 to 64 F. This is a steak blend, not a trophy Cabernet.
The crosshair over the O
Provenance Vineyards takes its name from origin. Deadeye takes its name from the crosshair in that logo.
The house sources Napa fruit with a blender's brief: outstanding lots, then a cuvee that drinks as one wine.
Deadeye is not Howell Mountain Cabernet and it is not a first-growth vineyard bottling. It is the Napa blend with the crosshair on the label.
The 2018 is that idea after eight years: chocolate, black fruit, and a price that belongs on a weeknight.
Ribeye on the iron, short ribs in the pot
Deadeye wants char and a slow braise. Blackcurrant, chocolate, and sleek tannin have a place to land.
Two plates. One ribeye. One short rib. Both can take a chewy Napa blend.
Decant 20 to 30 minutes. Serve 60 to 64 F.
Perfect Pan-Seared Steaks
A hard crust, coarse salt, pan juices. Deadeye at the steak table.
Why it works: Beef fat meets sleek tannin while char pulls blackcurrant and mocha forward.
View Recipe for Perfect Pan-Seared Steaks (opens in a new tab)
Red Wine-Braised Beef Short Ribs
A slow braise for cherry, cocoa, and savory chocolate.
Why it works: Collagen softens the chew while reduction echoes dark fruit and oak spice.
View Recipe for red wine braised short ribs (opens in a new tab)Put Deadeye in the cart
James Suckling 92, a Napa blend with eight years in glass. Fifteen dollars.
Put it in the cart. This is Deadeye, the crosshair blend, not a leftover bin.
