Crowning Achievement: Coronet's Inaugural Release at Arrow&Branch

My friends Ken and Tina joined me for a private tasting with Michael Ploetz at Arrow&Branch Winery, where I'm an investor. I was eager to introduce them to Coronet—the winery's companion label to Arrow&Branch—and show them the facility where both brands are crafted. Ken and Tina had never heard of the winery before I told them about it and scheduled this visit, so it was exciting to share these wines with them. The visit also provided an opportunity to secure a few bottles of the inaugural 2023 Coronet releases to bring back to Atlanta. Beyond the tasting, we toured the production facility where Ken and Tina had the pleasure of meeting Stephen Contursi and winemaker Jennifer Williams for the first time. Stay tuned for a forthcoming blog post at heavypourwine.com featuring pictures and videos from this memorable visit.

• 2023 Arrow & Branch Sauvignon Blanc Heritage Reserve 94 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Coronet tasting at Arrow&Branch Winery with Michael Ploetz. The Heritage Sauvignon Blanc represents a special bottling that Arrow&Branch has been producing since 2014. Michael Ploetz noted that those early vintages are still drinking beautifully after 11 years, demonstrating remarkable ageability for Sauvignon Blanc. The wine is made through a distinctive process: whole cluster crushing with the juice going into new, lightly toasted French oak barrels for fermentation. Only one barrel is produced each vintage (typically 25 cases), but Arrow&Branch discards the first and last cases due to higher dissolved oxygen levels from the bottling process, keeping only the 23 middle cases that represent the heart of the barrel. The wine is then aged for an additional full year in barrel, which imparts roundness and honeyed texture while making it more ageable through oxygen exposure. The fruit comes from Arrow&Branch's high-elevation Stagecoach Vineyard plantings at 900 feet above the valley floor—a site that winemaker Jennifer Williams personally designed in 2014, selecting the row orientation and two specific clones: Clone 6 from Italy and Sauvignon Musqué from southern France. This was our welcome pour, and my friends Ken and Tina—who were visiting the winery for the first time—loved it immediately. Michael mentioned he would humbly say there's no better Sauvignon Blanc made in Napa Valley, and while he acknowledged there are equal wines, this is a stellar example of what can be achieved with the variety. The wine delivers everything promised—beautiful texture and roundness from the barrel fermentation and extended aging, yet finishes with a striking minerality that comes from those high-elevation Stagecoach plantings. It's a remarkable expression that balances richness with freshness.
  
  Brad - heavypourwine.com

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• 2023 Coronet Cabernet Sauvignon Estate 93 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Oak Knoll District

  Coronet tasting at Arrow&Branch Winery with Michael Ploetz. Coronet is Arrow&Branch's companion label (not a second label, but truly a companion brand), introduced with the 2023 vintage as the inaugural release. The brand was created when the Contursi family purchased the Lady Liberty Vineyard property in 2020 and built the new winery that opened in August 2024, where both Arrow&Branch and Coronet wines are now produced. Michael Ploetz explained that they made two wines from this property for Coronet's debut vintage: this Estate bottling that represents the totality of the property's production, and a Reserve that represents only the best block with a barrel selection within that block. The vineyard is located in Oak Knoll on the west side of Highway 29, three miles south of Yountville, on Napa Valley's southernmost alluvial fan—part of a remnant creek bed that's still present on the property. Planted in 1998 with several different clonal selections, the site has been expertly farmed since the second half of 2020 by Mike Wolf, with quality dramatically improving under his more intentional farming approach. The farming is now handled by Dominic Bianco following Mike Wolf's retirement, but the philosophy remains the same. The wine is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon aged in new French oak barrels. Winemaker Jennifer Williams, who has been with Arrow&Branch since the 2010 vintage, is also a partner in the Coronet project along with a few family members and a small group of investors. Tasted side-by-side with the 2023 Coronet Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve Lady Liberty Vineyard, this Estate bottling showed more open and approachable in its current state. The wine was drinking terrifically from this widely-praised 2023 vintage—a year many consider perhaps the best Napa Valley has ever had. I grabbed a few bottles for my cellar.
  
  Brad - heavypourwine.com

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• 2023 Coronet Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve Lady Liberty Vineyard 95 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Coronet tasting at Arrow&Branch Winery with Michael Ploetz. This Reserve represents the pinnacle of Coronet's inaugural 2023 release, sourced exclusively from the best block of Lady Liberty Vineyard with only the finest barrels selected from within that block. Michael Ploetz described this wine as "turning up the volume on the vineyard"—it's more of everything, but in perfect balance. Lady Liberty Vineyard consists of five-plus acres of 30-year-old Cabernet Sauvignon vines (planted in 1998) situated on Napa Valley's southernmost alluvial fan in Oak Knoll. The vineyard benefits from a unique microclimate shaped by San Pablo Bay's cool morning fog and gentle breezes, creating ideal conditions with an extended growing season that allows for slow, even ripening. The soils are predominantly alluvial—a mixture of gravel, sand, and clay—offering excellent drainage while retaining essential moisture and nutrients. This special Reserve block lies along Dry Creek at the back end of the winery, distinguished by the lightest soils in the vineyard where you hit rocks sooner than areas just 50 feet away. The vineyard contains four different Cabernet clones, providing winemaker and Coronet partner Jennifer Williams—who has been with Arrow&Branch since 2010—with a broad palette for crafting world-class wine. Since 2021, the vineyard has been organically farmed using hand-hoeing for weed control (eliminating the need for herbicides) and holistic pest management relying solely on certified organic materials—a labor-intensive commitment to sustainability. The wine is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon aged in 100% new French oak barrels. Tasted side-by-side with the 2023 Coronet Cabernet Sauvignon Estate, this Reserve showed more closed and structured at this stage, promising excellent development with time. The wine was drinking terrifically despite being more reserved, showcasing the exceptional quality of this 2023 vintage. This was tied with the 2024 Coronet Chardonnay Bacigalupi Vineyard as my favorite wine of the tasting. I grabbed a few bottles for my cellar.
  
  Brad - heavypourwine.com

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• 2024 Coronet Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Georges III Vineyard 94 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Rutherford

  Coronet tasting at Arrow&Branch Winery with Michael Ploetz. This barrel sample comes from Andy Beckstoffer's historic Georges III Vineyard (G3), a site with remarkable provenance. Michael Ploetz explained that this property was first planted in 1895 by Thomas Rutherford, making it one of the first vineyards established in Napa Valley following the initial plantings of the late 1850s. In 1928, Beaulieu Vineyard founder Georges de Latour purchased the property, and this became the source for the legendary wines crafted by André Tchelistcheff in the 1960s and 70s that helped establish Napa Valley's reputation for world-class wine—truly the beginning of everything in modern Napa winemaking. This represents Coronet's second single-vineyard Cabernet designation alongside Lady Liberty. The winemaking team is excited to add this single heritage vineyard to the mix. Looking back at my scores from earlier this year when I tasted this barrel sample previously, the wine has definitely improved with age and continues to develop beautifully. Even as a barrel sample, the wine shows exceptional promise and the pedigree of this historic site.
  
  Brad - heavypourwine.com

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• 2024 Coronet Chardonnay Bacigalupi Vineyard 95 Points

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley

  Coronet tasting at Arrow&Branch Winery with Michael Ploetz. This barrel sample comes from the Bacigalupi Vineyard in Russian River Valley, from a block that borders the vines used in the famous 1976 Judgment of Paris tasting—one of the most pivotal moments in California wine history. Michael Ploetz shared the fascinating detail that while Chateau Montelena received all the credit for that historic victory, the grapes actually came from Bacigalupi. The same family has been growing grapes at this site since 1956, representing generations of viticultural expertise and a long history in that part of the valley. The wine is entirely barrel-fermented with full malolactic fermentation, but uses only used oak (no new oak), so the remarkable creaminess in the mid-palate comes purely from the exceptional fruit quality and the malolactic process rather than oak influence. This is Coronet's first vintage of this wine, and they're still determining final pricing for this new addition to the portfolio. Michael mentioned this might have been his favorite wine of the tasting when we sampled it from barrel, and I can see why he thought that—it's absolutely delicious. Very pleasurable for a barrel sample, showing great texture and richness. Looking back at my scores from earlier this year when I tasted this barrel sample previously, the wine has definitely improved with age and continues to develop beautifully. This was tied with the 2023 Coronet Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve Lady Liberty Vineyard as my favorite wine of the tasting.
  
  Brad - heavypourwine.com

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The tasting provided an excellent opportunity to experience Coronet's exceptional inaugural releases while introducing Ken and Tina to these wines and the winery for the first time. Following the tasting, Michael Ploetz gave us a comprehensive tour of the facility, where Ken and Tina had the chance to meet Stephen Contursi as he worked in the winery. Jennifer Williams arrived during our visit and stopped by to say hello—particularly meaningful for Ken and Tina to meet the winemaker and partner behind these outstanding wines. The afternoon concluded with a vineyard tour where we tasted freshly-picked secondary crop grapes from the site behind the winery and compared them to clusters still hanging on the vines along the side of the building—a fascinating glimpse into the harvest process and the quality of fruit from Lady Liberty Vineyard.