Built to Age. Made to Matter.
These Cabernet Sauvignons from Happy Canyon don’t bludgeon you with alcohol and plush fruit. Instead, they take me straight back to the California greats of the 1980s, when ripeness wasn’t guaranteed, but character, structure, and long-term promise were. Ad Ripa is Justin Willett’s homage to both place and legacy—a Cabernet project that evokes the nuance, balance, and staying power of Napa before the cults and scores took over. Think Dunn, Montelena, early Forman—when Cabernet still had a spine, not just a tan.
Willett made his name with Pinot Noir and Chardonnay at Tyler and Lieu Dit, but his fascination with Cabernet Sauvignon quietly deepened over the years. That fascination finds full expression here, in the easternmost edge of Santa Barbara County, in the warm, rugged Happy Canyon AVA. This area, with its red and yellow chert-laced soils and serpentine cobbles, restricts yields and intensifies flavor. There’s mid-morning fog, yes—but also long, sunny afternoons that ripen fruit just enough without flattening acidity. That balance—the tension between richness and lift—is the soul of Ad Ripa.
Justin's winemaking is minimalist, always letting the site do the talking. Farming is sustainable, fermentations are native, and extraction is gentle. He uses low-impact oak and pursues freshness over flash. These Cabernets are about form, not volume—they are framed by structure, elevated by acidity, and grounded in soil. They are serious, contemplative wines built not just for now, but for the long haul.
Many of the vineyard sources may be familiar—Justin worked with them under the Tyler label. But Ad Ripa is a new voice, a more focused one. It is a label built not to chase a trend, but to plant a flag. This is California Cabernet reimagined—not for critics or collectors, but for drinkers who remember when wines had tension, story, and somewhere to go.
With Tyler rooted in the west and Ad Ripa rising in the east, Justin Willett now bookends the Santa Ynez Valley. In doing so, he reaffirms what we’ve long believed: Santa Barbara isn’t just about Pinot and Chardonnay anymore. And Cabernet, when done like this, might just be on the verge of something great—again.
The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon China Blue leads with a polished, blue-fruited nose flanked with subtle tinges of tobacco, woody accents and the welcome herbal lift that runs through this roster. The palate is beautiful and decadent while remaining alluring and light on its feet, concluding with a graceful, harmonious and tense finish that gently but persistently swells in dimension with time in the glass. It's a fantastic and unique showing of Happy Canyon Cabernet Sauvignon.
Emerging from Happy Canyon Vineyard plantings originating from Oakville's legendary To-Kalon, the 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon RSW is coiled and reserved on the nose while subtly displaying its underlying class and elegance. Aromas of perfectly ripe red and black fruits framed with tobacco undertones and turned earth lead to a svelte yet velvety palate that balances plush texture and weightless intensity. The finish is taut and precise, gently housing its youthfully coiled, fine yet persistent tannins. Reminiscent of a classic California Cabernet from decades past yet with modern attention to detail, this beautiful expression of Happy Canyon will benefit from a few years of cellaring and should continue to evolve for a decade or more after that.
Not Yet Rated
94 Points Robert Parker
95+ Points, Robert Parker
