Thomas Rivers Brown winemaker spotlight
Wine Spectator: James Molesworth rides with Thomas Rivers Brown, winemaker of Stone The Crows, through Napa Cabernet. The vineyard on camera is Panek in St. Helena, not Three Twins.
The market on this bottle
Wine-Searcher tracks this 2022 Stone The Crows Three Twins Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley across the open market. Their published U.S. low is $160.21 and the average is $160.21. Our slash is $160.00.
2022 Stone The Crows Three Twins Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley, USA
Thomas Rivers Brown's flagship Three Twins Cabernet, top lots from the hillside above Lake Hennessey, a 2022 with Wine-Searcher 95 at one hundred sixty dollars.
The 2022 flagship is 100 percent Cabernet from clones 337 and 169, the top lots of Three Twins Vineyard. Mulberry, baking spice, salted dark chocolate, and graphite, now $160.
The flagship of Three Twins Vineyard
This is the top Cabernet lots from Richard Talmadge's hillside estate, made by Thomas Rivers Brown. The warm 2022 season softened the tannins without flattening the site.
The vineyard
Three Twins sits at 700 feet above Lake Hennessey. Five blocks, 11,000 vines, volcanic ash over gravel and flint.
The wine
100 percent Cabernet, clones 337 and 169. Four-day cold soak, stainless ferment, 20 months in 80 percent new French oak.
The scores
Wine-Searcher aggregated 95 for this vintage. Decanter lists the finished wine at 14.8% alcohol.
The drinker
Mulberry, cocoa, and graphite with softer 2022 tannin. Decant 30 to 45 minutes. Short ribs or ribeye.
Mulberry, graphite, and salted dark chocolate
A richly decadent but elegant Cabernet, with dark fruit and savory detail held by structured tannin.
The official winery notes describe a warm season that produced softer tannins and one of the estate's easiest-drinking Cabernets upon release.
Mulberry leads, joined by brown baking spice and the deep fruit richness expected from hillside Napa Cabernet.
Full-bodied and decadent, yet balanced. Structured tannins feel softer than usual for the estate and keep the wine polished.
Salted dark chocolate and graphite carry the finish. Serve near cellar temperature after 30 to 45 minutes of air.
The Thomas Rivers Brown factor
Brown gives the estate's best 2022 Cabernet lots a precise, low-intervention path from vineyard to bottle. On the Stone The Crows site, that is the flagship brief: the purest expression of Three Twins.
The 100 percent Cabernet blend combines clones 337 and 169. After a four-day cold soak, the wine fermented in stainless steel for up to 16 days on the skins with pumpovers twice daily.
It then spent 20 months in 80 percent new French oak from Darnajou, Remond, and La Grange before being bottled unfined and unfiltered. Decanter lists the finished wine at 14.8% alcohol.
A cattle ranch remade for Cabernet
Three Twins Vineyard is a small, sunlit hillside estate shaped by elevation, lake breezes, volcanic soils, and one family's leap of faith.
High above St. Helena, Three Twins Vineyard sits at 700 feet on the northern slopes of Lake Hennessey. Proprietor Richard Talmadge saw Cabernet potential in an old cattle ranch and redesigned the site in 2005.
The estate's 11,000 vines climb steep, undulating hills across five blocks. Volcanic ash over gravel and flint encourages vine struggle, while morning sun and afternoon updrafts from the lake support slow, even ripening.
Talmadge named Three Twins for his triplets. The estate's first official Cabernet vintage arrived in 2010, with Thomas Rivers Brown shaping the wines from the beginning.
Cabernet built for a serious table
Mulberry, cocoa, and graphite want browned beef and a long braise.
Two plates. One pot of short ribs. One butter-basted ribeye.
Serve near 60 to 65 F. Decant 30 to 45 minutes.
Red wine-braised short ribs
Slow braising meets the wine's scale, while the sauce and soft beef round the tannins.
Why it works: Collagen and glaze echo ripe berries while the wine's frame stays upright.
View Recipe for red wine-braised short ribs (opens in a new tab)
Butter-basted ribeye
Black pepper and a deep sear align with the wine's spice, while beef fat softens its Cabernet structure.
Why it works: Crust and fat match cocoa and mulberry while tannin cuts the steak.
View Recipe for butter-basted ribeye (opens in a new tab)Open the flagship of Three Twins
Thomas Rivers Brown. Lake Hennessey hillside. Wine-Searcher 95. The 2022 is in the glass at one hundred sixty dollars.
Put it in the cart. Drink it this week after a short decant. This is the bottle that closes the proof.
