Domaine Dujac, one of Burgundy’s most celebrated and influential domaines, has partnered with Master Sommelier and CEO of Lawrence Wine Estates, Carlton McCoy Jr., to deliver a fresh new expression of Cabernet Sauvignon — evoking a bygone time in Rutherford.
Napa Valley, CA (February 12, 2025) – Today marks the announcement of Trailside Vineyard, a soulful, forthright new perspective in Cabernet Sauvignon from Rutherford: one that honors the great classical wines of Napa Valley’s halcyon days of the 1960s and 1970s.
“Domaine Dujac is one of Burgundy’s greatest estates,” wrote McCoy. “Jeremy Seysses, Dujac’s owner and winemaker, has been a dear friend of mine since very early in my wine career.”
“When I first saw Rutherford’s Trailside Vineyard in 2019, and saw the map of its seven different soil types, I knew I had to work with a winemaker who had the patience and perfectionism to do justice to each of these individual blocks. A winemaker that understood how to work with each climat to express its true nature. I knew it had to be Jeremy,” added McCoy.
The brief he gave Seysses was simple, but quietly revolutionary: “Let’s make the single-vineyard Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon that WE want to drink.”
“In the 1970s and into the 1980s, our vineyard was the core source for Spring Mountain Vineyard’s legendary Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon,” McCoy said. “One of those 40-year-old bottles was an epiphany for me. Bright but rich, it still held on to a striking perfume, delivered on elegant and plush tannins. I realized we could bring back something incredibly special by breaking a few rules,” he said.
The inaugural release is from the 2022 vintage, crafted to produce the most complex and complete expression of this site. It is farmed, harvested, and fermented according to each climat’s individual soil type. Fermentations began with a traditional pied de cuve starter, and the wine was aged in a vast array of vessels, from barrique to foudre. Seysses had the idea to incorporate whole clusters and a submerged cap in the fermentation — a calculated risk that defies convention in the Napa Valley.
“We’re willing to explore techniques that are rooted in tradition, but uncommonly seen in Napa Valley,” wrote Seysses. “We seek to give the most compelling rendition of the vineyard, which must always remain central to the project. A high-risk, high-reward approach. An exploratory journey,” he continued.
“Trailside shows what is possible when you make a Cabernet Sauvignon from Rutherford without following a script,” McCoy concluded. The result is a floral, fresh, but densely flavored wine with the potential for long cellar aging. A true collector’s item. Allocated to new members at trailsidevineyard.com, the inaugural 2022 vintage will release February 26th, 2025. Join the waitlist, and download imagery here.
About Trailside Vineyard
Trailside Vineyard is a single-vineyard Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon conceived by two of the industry’s most experienced and well-known professionals, Carlton McCoy Jr. MS, and Jeremy Seysses of Domaine Dujac. Beginning in 2020, with the first release of the 2022 vintage, the duo crafted a profound single-vineyard wine made in a terroir-driven, age worthy style that is an homage to Napa Valley’s glory days of the 1960s and 1970s which they both adore. Their hope is to restore a great vineyard’s rightful reputation simply by making a wine that they would love to drink.
Their source is a historical vineyard in Rutherford that was once a source for Spring Mountain Vineyard’s and Heitz Cellar’s Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon in the 1970s and 1980s. Located on Rutherford’s east side, it is north of Beckstoffer’s Georges III. A pedigreed site hiding in plain sight for decades, the vineyard is notable for its diversity of gravel, volcanic and loamy soils.
Trailside Vineyard joins Lawrence Wine Estates’ coveted portfolio of historical wineries and is represented with targeted distribution by its sales and marketing partner, Demeine Estates.
About Carlton McCoy Jr., Master Sommelier
Born in Washington, D.C., and raised in its Anacostia district, Carlton McCoy’s upbringing was an unlikely springboard for his meteoric rise in the wine industry. Named a Master Sommelier in 2013 at just 28 years old, Carlton was one of the youngest people and the second African American to earn this prestigious title.
An alum of the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY, Carlton initially worked as a chef, with stints at revered institutions including Per Se, Aquavit, Craftsteak, and CityZen in Washington, D.C.
In 2011, Carlton joined the team at The Little Nell in Aspen, CO, inspired by the hotel’s award-winning wine program. After earning the MS title in 2013, he was promoted to Wine Director. Here Carlton met and befriended billionaire investor Gaylon Lawrence, advised him on the 2018 purchase of Heitz Cellar, and by 2019 Carlton was appointed CEO of Lawrence Wine Estates, overseeing the acquisition or launch of six additional wineries.
About Lawrence Wine Estates
Lawrence Wine Estates is the global leading portfolio of historical and multi-generational fine wine estates. The portfolio that Napa Valley needed, their iconic producers include Heitz Cellar, Stony Hill, Burgess, Haynes Vineyard, Ink Grade, and Trailside Vineyard. The treasured history of each estate prioritizes heritage low intervention winemaking philosophies and biodynamic farming techniques to create pure and balanced wines of the highest quality. With six estates in the Napa Valley and Château Lascombes in Bordeaux, they offer a suite of meaningful luxury experiences amid grand terroirs.
