They took the wine world by storm.

The Groth family took the wine world by storm in 1981 and earned America's first-ever 100-point score from Robert Parker, on the 1985.

The year's blend is 87 percent Cabernet and 13 percent Merlot. The year was mild. The lots were fermented small, and the tannins still came in firm.

Where did they put them?

They put them in the fruit, and the cellar kept them. Picked at night, sorted by hand, cluster by cluster, then crushed and fermented at the estate on Oakville Cross Road. A mild year did not wash the structure out.

James Suckling scored this 2023 a 93 on March 30, 2026. Ryan Montgomery, staff writer and critic, found black and blue fruit, graphite, wet stone, licorice, dried flowers, cedar, and earth. The palate sits at a middle weight, with taut tannins and a bright acid, fresh enough to drink now and built to hold. He called it a steady Oakville cab, in the line the house has kept since 1982. The bottle on this page is that wine, at $80.

Decanter scored this Oakville Cabernet a 95. That 95 is the highest score named here, so the bubble shows Decanter.

Estate rows, and neighbors in the same AVA

This Cabernet is not a single block. The fruit is grown on the Groth Oakville estate and on several partner vineyards, every one of them inside the Oakville AVA. That mix is the point. A compact appellation still changes from ranch to ranch, and the 2023 uses that change instead of sanding it flat.

The work starts at night. The clusters come in cool, then a hand sort takes out what does not belong, and the ferment happens at the estate. Sustainable farming is the estate practice the house states for these Oakville vines. The wine that follows is the breadth of the AVA in one bottle, Cabernet first, Merlot for the middle.

The stone in the rows says the name and nothing else. Groth, cut into granite, with the vines behind it. That is the place this Cabernet comes home to.

Nineteen months, half the oak new

Ted Henry, director of winegrowing, shaped this 2023 in the estate cellar. After the night pick and the hand sort, the wine spent 19 months in French oak, half of it new. The new wood is a frame. The other half keeps the fruit from disappearing into toast. Alcohol is 14.2 percent.

Henry's note on the finished wine starts in the dark fruit. Crushed blackberry, blueberry, a little cocoa, charred tomato, and a green-pepper flicker, then dark plum, black tea, peppercorn, violet, and cherry. The tannins finish firm and silky. That is the house account of the glass. Montgomery's March note sits beside it: graphite and wet stone over the same blue and black fruit, acid still bright.

Six bottles are $330. Twelve are $660, and twelve ship free outside Hawaii and Alaska. From six up, each bottle is $55. One bottle is the winery price, $80.

Blackberry, graphite, and a tannin that holds

Pour it and the first thing up is black and blue fruit, then the cellar notes. Graphite, wet stone, a thread of licorice, dried flowers, cedar. The middle weight is the surprise in a mild year. The tannin is taut, not dry, and the acid keeps the fruit from going soft. Give the glass a few minutes. It does not need a showy decant to be itself.

Montgomery's advice is drink or hold. The house says the same thing in its own words: good now, and with cellar years in it. Neither note prints a last year. Drink it while the blue fruit is loud, or lay it down and let the cedar come forward. Serve it at the table, not ice cold.

This listing is the winery price, $80. Six or more are $55. Members type FEATURED20 at checkout for an extra 20 percent off. The corner above opens the Wine-Searcher listing.

Oakville Cross Road, since 1981

The Groth family bought the Oakville estate in 1981 because the ground suited Cabernet. The winery sits at 750 Oakville Cross Road. The building is the pink villa with the arched window and the tile roof, the one you see from the vines. The cellar behind it is where this 2023 was fermented and aged.

The 95 on the bubble is Decanter, the highest score named here. James Suckling's 93 is Ryan Montgomery's note on this 2023, March 30, 2026. The estate is the reason the fruit exists. The scores are about the wine in the bottle.

The bottle you add is the 2023 Groth Cabernet Sauvignon, Oakville, at $80. Estate and partner fruit, half new French oak, and Decanter's 95. Six or more are $55 a bottle. The film is the winery's own welcome to the house.

Welcome to Groth Vineyards and Winery. The winery's own film.

Ribeye, or lamb chops

The house puts this Cabernet with grilled ribeye, roasted lamb chops, and roasted duck. The ribeye is the straight reading. Fat and char meet the blackberry and the firm tannin, and the acid in the wine cuts the richness so the plate does not sit. Salt the steak early. Let the bottle sit open while the grill heats.

Lamb chops do the herb job. Rosemary, a browned crust, the juice on the platter. Peppercorn and violet in the wine find the lamb, and the Merlot in the blend keeps the middle soft enough for the chop. Both plates leave the 2023 tasting like Oakville.