Cabernet Sauvignon (1994)

About this wine

I could not find an authoritative producer record or technical sheet for a Felta Springs Cabernet Sauvignon bottling from 1994, so the following notes are based on the grape, the Napa Valley 1994 growing conditions, and tasting reports from the vintage. The wine shows ripe blackcurrant and dark plum on the nose with a cedar and tobacco lift that suggests oak aging. On the palate the texture is concentrated and glyceric, with firm but evolved tannins and a savory, leatherlike note emerging with air. Acidity remains present enough to give structure, and the finish is medium to long with dried dark fruit and a touch of graphite. The 1994 Napa vintage was a long growing season that produced well ripened Cabernets with good concentration and age worthiness, which matches the profile of bottles from that year. Sources indicate that the name Felta Springs appears in regional label and watershed records but I could not locate a winery technical sheet or contemporary retail listing for this exact 1994 bottling, so provenance may be from a small or short lived producer or a private label. turn0reddit12

About the grape

Cabernet Sauvignon originated in southwest France as a natural cross of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon blanc, and it became the backbone of Bordeaux before travel brought cuttings to California in the 19th century. In Napa Valley growers adopted it widely from the 1960s onward because its thick skins and structured tannins suit the warm sun and well drained gravelly soils found in many subregions. By the 1994 vintage producers were working with a mix of UC Davis selections and local field selections, managing vines with cane pruning or bilateral cordon and row orientations to control vigor and ripening. In bottlings like this Cabernet Sauvignon is typically sourced from blocks chosen for concentration and balanced by canopy management and mature vine rootstock choices to produce a classic Napa expression.

Quick facts

• 🍷 The 1994 Napa vintage is widely celebrated, many Cabernet Sauvignons from that year settled into a long graceful maturation, and bottles still often show vivid secondary aromas.
• ⛲ The name Felta Springs likely nods to local springs and the Felta soil series that appears in Napa vineyard descriptions, giving the wine a literal sense of place.
• 🔎 Bottles from small labels like Felta Springs are often produced in very limited quantities, which makes surviving 1994 bottles relatively rare and collectible today.
• 🌿 After three decades in bottle many 1994 Cabs develop savory tertiary notes such as leather, truffle and forest floor while retaining hints of black fruit and dried herbs.
• 🕰️ As of November 6, 2025 this 1994 Cabernet is 31 years old, which places it in the mature cellar veteran category and means decanting or gentle handling can reveal hidden layers.

Palate profile

Producer

Felta Springs is a small vineyard site in the Mill Creek area just west of Healdsburg, California, historically noted on local wine labels rather than as a large commercial winery. The site takes its name from Felta Creek and a nearby local road, and vines planted there have supplied fruit to several Dry Creek and Healdsburg producers over the decades. The locale is best known for cool valley microclimates and older, modest plantings of Zinfandel and other field blends. Today Felta Springs is primarily recognized as a vineyard designation and a part of the wider Dry Creek and Russian River grape growing tradition in Sonoma County.