Fifteen years after its founding, Memento Mori has arrived at a defining new chapter. The acclaimed Napa Valley winery, long celebrated for its powerful, site-driven Cabernets sourced from some of Napa’s finest vineyards (Beckstoffer Dr. Crane, Beckstoffer Las Piedras, and Vine Hill Ranch), has introduced its very first wine from its own property: a 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from the 17-acre Memento Mori Estate in Calistoga.
Appropriately titled "The Estate," the 2023 vintage represents the winery’s evolution from celebrated négociant to full-fledged estate producer. Crafted by 100-point winemaker Sam Kaplan, the wine channels the character of Calistoga’s volcanic, gravelly soils and radiant exposure into a Cabernet of remarkable structure and expressive dark fruit. Just 325 cases were produced, underscoring its rarity.
While Memento Mori has been producing acclaimed Cabernet Sauvignons since 2010, The Estate marks the first wine grown from vines the team can truly call their own. “We’ve always sought vineyard partners who reflect our philosophy of excellence,” says co-founder Hayes Drumwright. “But finding a place that embodies our spirit—that felt like home—was the missing piece. When Sam first walked the Calistoga property, we all knew it was meant to be.”
That sense of destiny is rooted in the estate’s remarkable provenance. Formerly known as Stonescape, the property was once owned by renowned art collectors Norah and Norman Stone. Their private estate housed a 5,750-square-foot art cave and an extraordinary collection featuring Warhol, Koons, and Chagall, much of which now belongs to SF MoMA. It’s also home to James Turrell's Stone Sky, an ethereal white cube with an oculus to the Napa Valley sky—a meditation on light, time, and place that now serves as a muse for the winery.
Co-founder and designer Adam Craun drew inspiration from that same creative energy for Memento Mori’s refreshed visual identity. The new label for The Estate reinterprets Turrell’s sculpture as a prism of color, evoking the light that floods the piece at dusk. The result is a vibrant convergence of art and viticulture—an evolution fitting for the winery’s 15th anniversary.
Founded by Drumwright, Adriel Lares, and Craun, Memento Mori has spent the past decade and a half defining what modern Napa Valley luxury can be: soulful and deliberate. Its name—Latin for remember you must die, interpreted by the founders as remember to live—remains the through line. With The Estate, that philosophy now has a permanent home in the hills of Calistoga.
While the winery is not yet open to visitors, those interested in a future visit, or in allocation updates, can register their interest here.
The 2023 Memento Mori The Estate Cabernet Sauvignon will be released this fall at $450 per 750ml bottle.
Photos courtesy of Memento Mori
