1987 Napa Valley Vintage

1987 in Napa Valley began under drought conditions, with little rain and cool early weather that prevented vines from setting a sizable crop to begin with. Mid-summer heat waves compounded this yield reduction, leaving berries and clusters notably small as harvest approached. The season then accelerated sharply, with a late-summer heat spike causing multiple varieties to ripen simultaneously and forcing cellar crews to work around the clock. For producers who responded quickly, Cabernet Sauvignon delivered concentrated flavors, albeit with firm, sinewy tannins that required careful cellar work to integrate.

• Drought conditions from the start of the year limited vine vigor and initial crop set
• Mid-summer heat waves further reduced berry and cluster size across the valley
• A late-season heat spike triggered rapid, simultaneous ripening across multiple varieties
• Harvesting was fast and pressured; producers who picked decisively captured the best-concentrated fruit

While quality was broadly consistent across Napa Valley in 1987, the cooler sub-appellations distinguished themselves most clearly over time. Oakville and the Stags Leap District rose above the crowd as the wines developed, with their moderate temperatures and well-drained soils producing Cabernet Sauvignons of greater elegance and aging structure. Merlot across the valley also performed well despite late-season stress, with the small, concentrated berries yielding plush, intense wines. Some warmer-site wines developed more quickly and lacked the structural backbone for extended cellaring.

• Oakville and Stags Leap District emerged as the vintage's top appellations for long-term aging potential
• Small berry size across all sites concentrated flavors and tannins, benefiting quality-conscious producers
• Merlot thrived with small, intense berries, producing concentrated wines of genuine richness
• Warmer valley-floor sites produced wines that developed more quickly and were less suited to extended aging

Opus One's 1987, a Cabernet Sauvignon-dominant Bordeaux blend produced from To Kalon Vineyard fruit in Oakville, is one of the vintage's most celebrated examples, scoring 91 to 93 points across major critic platforms and described as showing great depth and intensity with oak, cherry, and black pepper notes. Caymus Vineyards released a 1987 Special Selection, the Wagner family flagship made only from the best barrels of the vintage, described by Robert Parker as delivering a rich, oaky, cassis, and spicy nose with creamy-textured, medium to full-bodied flavors. Spring Mountain Vineyard's 1987 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, aged 22 months in 60 percent new French oak, remained remarkably vibrant, displaying berry fruit, violets, and cocoa with a lively palate of dark fruit and concentrated blackberry.

• Opus One 1987: 91 to 93 points across major critics; plum, tobacco, graphite, and black pepper on an elegant Oakville framework
• Caymus Special Selection 1987: rich, oaky, cassis-driven nose with creamy texture; confirmed to exist and critically praised
• Spring Mountain Vineyard 1987 Estate Cabernet: 100 percent Cabernet Sauvignon aged 22 months in 60 percent new French oak; still vibrant with dark fruit and complexity
• Schramsberg produced its Flora-based Cremant Demi-Sec in this era; the wine is an off-dry California original first made in 1972 using a UC Davis-developed Flora grape

The finest 1987 Napa Cabernet Sauvignons entered their optimal drinking window broadly around 2000 to 2010 and the best-stored examples from Oakville and the Stags Leap District may still offer rewarding drinking into the mid-2020s. These wines now display evolved tertiary characteristics including leather, tobacco, dried cherry, and graphite, with tannins softened into more approachable frameworks. Provenance and storage condition are critical at this age; bottles with poor fills, seepage, or compromised corks should be approached with caution. Warmer-site wines from this vintage have largely passed their peak.

• Top-tier Oakville and Stags Leap Cabernets: optimal window roughly 2000 to 2025 for well-stored examples
• Expect tertiary flavors of leather, tobacco, dried cherry, and cedar rather than primary fruit
• Storage history is paramount at nearly 40 years of age; provenance from controlled conditions is essential
• Warmer-site and valley-floor wines from 1987 are generally past their best and should be consumed promptly if encountered

The small berry size driven by drought and heat in 1987 naturally concentrated sugars, tannins, and color in the resulting wines, a silver lining of the difficult growing conditions. Cabernet Sauvignons generally displayed firm, sinewy tannins in youth that required cellaring to integrate, with the more balanced examples shaped through careful maceration and barrel management. Separately, the broader context of AXR1 rootstock vulnerability was becoming clearer by this period: scientists had confirmed phylloxera susceptibility in 1983, though the catastrophic replanting crisis that affected around 70 percent of Napa and Sonoma vines unfolded primarily through the 1990s, after 1987 fruit was already harvested.

• Drought and heat stress produced small berries with concentrated sugars, tannins, and color across the valley
• Cabernet Sauvignon showed sinewy tannins in youth; richer, balanced examples were shaped through skilled cellar work
• AXR1 phylloxera susceptibility confirmed scientifically in 1983; major replanting crisis came in the 1990s, not materially affecting 1987 yields
• Around 70 percent of Napa and Sonoma vines were eventually planted on AXR1, with massive replanting and quality reinvestment following the crisis