2022 Orin Swift Papillon estate spotlight
Dave Phinney on Orin Swift, in a 2012 winemaker interview.
The market on this bottle
U.S. shop listings for the 2022 Orin Swift Papillon, 750ml, before sales tax. Auctions and clearance specials are left out. The main-listing low is $69.95, so this bottle is $70. Checked 2026-10-06.
Napa Cabernet blend
2022 Orin Swift Papillon Red, Napa Valley, USA
Papillon is the French word for butterfly, the name Dave Phinney's daughter gave the wine for its first release in 2007.
The 2022 puts all five Bordeaux grapes in one bottle, mostly from Stagecoach, and Owen Bargreen scored it 93. The bottle is $70.
The bottle he kept
Dave Phinney started Orin Swift in 1998. He sold The Prisoner in 2008, and Papillon stayed in the house, with fruit that is mostly Stagecoach on Atlas Peak and a smaller share from Monte Rosso, so this is not a wine from one Napa hillside.
If you already pour the wines of the man who sold The Prisoner and still makes this one, what is the argument for leaving it on the table?
Five grapes
Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Merlot, and Petit Verdot are all in the bottle.
The oak
It spent 13 months in French oak, and 40 percent of that oak was new.
The alcohol
The wine is 15.4 percent alcohol.
The window
Owen Bargreen set the drinking window at 2024 to 2032.
Owen Bargreen 93, then the vintages before it
Owen Bargreen scored the 2022 a 93 and found red bell pepper, black licorice, sandalwood, and creme de cassis.
Wine Advocate scored the 2018 a 94 and the 2019 a 92, and scored the 2021 a 92. Wine Spectator scored the 2018 a 93 and the 2019 a 93.
Crimson, then vanilla and toffee
The winery glass opens on an opaque crimson core. Cassis, blackberry, chaparral, cedar, and allspice come first, then pluot, blueberry, boysenberry, and fennel.
Dusty tannins close on vanilla and toffee. The 2022 is $70. Twelve bottles ship free in the lower 48. Hawaii and Alaska are quoted on their own.
Cassis, blackberry, chaparral, cedar, and allspice.
Pluot, blueberry, boysenberry, and fennel over dusty tannins.
Vanilla and toffee.
Two sites, five grapes
Most of the fruit is Stagecoach on Atlas Peak, with a smaller share from Monte Rosso.
That split is the point. The wine is not drawn from a single Napa hillside.
The five Bordeaux grapes are blended together in this vintage.
Thirteen months in French oak, 40 percent new, carries the fruit at 15.4 percent alcohol.
A name from 2007
The house was already years old when this bottle got its name.
Dave Phinney started Orin Swift in 1998.
In 2007 his daughter named the new wine, and that vintage was the first release.
He sold The Prisoner in 2008. Papillon remained the Bordeaux-grape bottle in the house, and Greg Gorman's photograph stayed on the label.
Why It Matters
The winery points the finish toward barbecue tri-tip, so the dusty tannins have a job at the table, not only in a trophy lineup.
Herb roasted leg of lamb is the plate, with roasted mushrooms on the side.
Open and pour, or give it a short decant if you want the dusty tannins to settle before the first glass.
Herb-Crusted Leg of Lamb
Gary Danko's roast is rolled around parsley, garlic, rosemary, and thyme, then tied and cooked until the crust sets.
Why it works: The herbs meet the chaparral and cedar, and the lamb is the roast this glass is built to sit beside.
View Recipe for Herb-Crusted Leg of Lamb (opens in a new tab)Easy Roasted Mushrooms
Button or cremini mushrooms roast with olive oil, salt, and thyme until the edges brown and the centers stay meaty.
Why it works: The browned mushrooms pick up the fennel and the toffee without asking the lamb to do all the work.
View Recipe for Easy Roasted Mushrooms (opens in a new tab)Put it on the table
Add the 2022 at $70 when you want all five Bordeaux grapes and Bargreen's 93 in the same glass.
Open a bottle the next time herb roasted lamb comes to the table.
