Mason Cellars spotlight
WineWithTony visits Mason Cellars on camera with Randy and Megan Mason, the Oakville family behind this Pelissa Vineyard Cabernet.
The market on this bottle
Wine-Searcher tracks this 2022 Mason Cellars Pelissa Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville across the open market. Their published U.S. low is $43.58 and the average is $68.67. Our slash is $43.00.
2022 Mason Cellars Pelissa Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville, USA
Randy Mason's Pelissa Vineyard Oakville Cabernet, red currant and sweet earth, a 2022 you can open at forty-four dollars.
The 2022 is Cabernet Sauvignon from Pelissa Vineyard in Oakville: red currant, fresh plum, dark chocolate, and sweet earth, now $43.
Oakville Cabernet from a named vineyard, not a Napa county blend
Pelissa Vineyard sits in Oakville on ground Andrew and Babe Pelissa made a home in 1930, when it was still a dairy. Randy Mason sources the Cabernet here, Clone 7 included, and keeps the winemaking quiet so Oakville can speak. Red currant, plum, chocolate, sweet earth. Forty-four dollars against an $80 typical retail.
The house
Randy and Megan Mason founded Mason Cellars in 1993. The brief is classic Napa fruit at a price people will actually open.
The wine
Pelissa Vineyard Cabernet from Oakville. Hand-picked, cold soak, French oak. The house wants the site, not a makeup job.
The read
No 2022 professional score claimed here. The winery note is the evidence: red currant, plum, dark chocolate, sweet earth, velvety tannin.
The drinker
Decant 30 to 45 minutes. Serve near 62 F. Grilled ribeye or herb-roasted lamb.
Currant, plum, chocolate, then espresso earth
The house language for Pelissa Cabernet is quintessentially Oakville: red currant and fresh plum mixed with dark chocolate and sweet earth, velvety tannin, a weighty mid-palate, a long espresso close.
A Napa Cabernet year with bright fruit and polished tannin on this site. Drink it now with a decant. The structure will take a roast.
Red currant, fresh plum, cassis, blackberry, cocoa, cedar, sweet earth.
Full, velvety tannin, a weighty Oakville mid-palate.
Espresso and earth. Decant 30 to 45 minutes. Serve 60 to 64 F.
Hand-picked, cold-soaked, then French oak
Mason's Oakville Cabernet method is consistent across recent Pelissa vintages: early-morning picks, a cold soak, fermentation, then time in French oak so the vineyard stays in front of the barrel.
Pelissa covers about 60 acres in Oakville and includes old BV Clone 7 Cabernet. That clone and that AVA are the argument, not a regional blend wearing Oakville on the neck.
Serve near 62 F. A 30- to 45-minute decant is for chocolate and earth, not a rescue.
A 1993 family label and a 1930 Oakville farm
Mason Cellars is Randy and Megan Mason. Pelissa is a named Oakville vineyard with a dairy-farm origin story.
Randy Mason had been making Napa wine for decades when the couple put their name on a label in 1993. Value and varietal character are still the brief.
Andrew and Babe Pelissa married in 1930 and settled the Oakville site when it was a dairy. The vineyard later took their name.
This 2022 is the current Pelissa Cabernet chapter: Oakville fruit, Mason hands, a number that does not need a waiting list.
Ribeye on the grill, lamb in the oven
Oakville Cabernet wants char and fat. A grilled ribeye and herb-roasted lamb chops are the table.
Two plates. One grilled ribeye. One herb-roasted lamb chop. Both can take Oakville tannin.
Decant 30 to 45 minutes. Serve 60 to 64 F. The tannins are velvety. Air is for chocolate and earth.
Grilled Ribeye Steak with Herb Butter
A marbled steak and herb butter for currant, chocolate, and espresso.
Why it works: Grill char and butter match velvety Oakville tannin. Herbs echo the sweet-earth close.
View Recipe for grilled ribeye (opens in a new tab)
Perfectly Grilled Ribeye Steak
A second grilled steak plate, the live pairing for this Oakville Cabernet.
Why it works: Char and fat match velvety tannin. The espresso close has somewhere to land.
View Recipe for grilled ribeye steak (opens in a new tab)Put this Oakville Cabernet in the cart
Pelissa Vineyard, Randy Mason, Oakville Cabernet. Forty-four dollars.
Put it in the cart. This is named-vineyard Oakville at a number that belongs on a weeknight roast.
