2022 Orin Swift Palermo estate spotlight
The market on this bottle
U.S. shop listings for this 750ml, before sales tax. Auctions and clearance specials are left out. The main-listing low is $45.97, so this bottle is $46. Checked 2026-10-06.
Dave Phinney, Napa Cabernet
2022 Orin Swift Palermo Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, USA
A mummified cardinal in a red cape is the picture on the label.
Palermo is Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, and Dave Phinney built the cuvee. The 2022 spent 12 months in French oak. Wine Spectator scored the 2021 of this wine 92. The bottle is $46.
One grape. Napa Valley. His cuvee.
The 2022 is Cabernet Sauvignon. Twelve months in French oak, 31 percent new, 15.2 percent alcohol. Dave Phinney built the cuvee. The label is that cardinal, a relic in a red cape from the catacombs the wine is named for.
Wine Spectator scored the prior vintage, the 2021, a 92. If you want a Napa Cabernet with Phinney's hand in the cuvee and a label you will remember, what is the case for a plainer bottle?
title
sentence
title
sentence
title
sentence
title
sentence
The 2021 scored 92. This is the next vintage.
Wine Spectator scored the 2021 Palermo 92. This bottle is the 2022, the vintage that followed, still Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.
The label is the red-cape cardinal in the Palermo catacombs. The winery tastes cassis, boysenberry, elderberry, chaparral, and cedar, then blackberry and thyme.
Cassis, chaparral, and soft tannins
Cassis, boysenberry, and elderberry open it. Chaparral and cedar follow, then blackberry, thyme, licorice, black pepper, and star anise. The tannins are long and soft.
Pour the 2022 at $46. Twelve bottles ship free in the lower 48. Hawaii and Alaska are quoted on their own.
Cassis, boysenberry, elderberry, chaparral, and cedar.
Blackberry and thyme, then licorice, black pepper, and star anise.
Long, soft tannins.
Cabernet only, a year in French oak
Dave Phinney built the cuvee, and the 2022 is Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.
The grape is Cabernet Sauvignon, and the place is Napa Valley.
It spent 12 months in French oak, 31 percent of it new. Alcohol is 15.2 percent.
On the label, the cardinal is mummified and dressed in a red cape in the Palermo catacombs.
A relic from the catacombs, and a Napa Cabernet
Palermo takes its name from the catacombs, and the cuvee is the one Phinney built.
The figure on the label is a mummified cardinal in a red cape, kept in the catacombs the wine is named for.
Dave Phinney built the cuvee.
The 2022 is Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, raised for 12 months in French oak, 31 percent of it new.
Red wine braised short ribs over creamy polenta
The braise echoes cassis, licorice, and star anise. Creamy polenta gives the long tannins a soft place to land.
Red wine braised short ribs, with creamy polenta underneath.
A year in French oak supports a brief decant. A short rest in the glass is enough after that.
Red wine braised short ribs
Daniel Gritzer sears beef short ribs and braises them for hours in a full bottle of dry red wine.
Why it works: The reduced wine sauce lines up with cassis, black pepper, and star anise, and the soft meat meets those long tannins.
View Recipe for Red wine braised short ribs (opens in a new tab)Smooth and creamy polenta
Serious Eats hydrates coarse cornmeal in plenty of liquid until it is smooth, then finishes it with butter.
Why it works: The soft corn takes the cedar and thyme and lets the tannins finish quietly.
View Recipe for Smooth and creamy polenta (opens in a new tab)Open the 2022 Palermo
Napa Cabernet from the cuvee Dave Phinney built, at $46.
Take the 2022 Palermo home.
