Anomaly Vineyards

Anomaly Vineyards is a micro-estate that produces a single Cabernet Sauvignon from just 8 acres of St. Helena vineyard, achieving cult status through a combination of tiny production, exceptional quality, and the mystique that surrounds wines you can barely find. Founded in 1997 by Steve and Linda Goldfarb, who purchased the vineyard as a grape-growing investment and began making their own wine after realizing the quality of the fruit they were selling to others was too good to give away, Anomaly has since become one of the most sought-after small-production Cabernets in the valley.

The 8-acre vineyard sits on the benchland of St. Helena, planted to Cabernet Sauvignon on gravelly, well-drained soils. The small scale of the operation allows for farming of extraordinary precision, with the Goldfarbs personally overseeing every vine on the property. The warm St. Helena climate produces fully ripe fruit with rich, dark flavors, and the meticulous farming ensures that every cluster reaches the cellar in optimal condition. Total production rarely exceeds 500 cases, making Anomaly one of the smallest commercial wine operations in the valley.

Winemaker Marco DiGiulio produces a single wine, a Cabernet Sauvignon that aims for maximum expression of the site and the vintage. The winemaking is precise and restrained, with careful extraction and aging in French oak that enhances rather than dominates the fruit. The resulting wine is concentrated and complex, with the depth of flavor that only comes from tiny yields and obsessive attention at every stage. The wine regularly earns scores above 95 points from major critics, and the mailing list has a waiting period of several years.

Tastings at Anomaly are by appointment only and extremely limited, reflecting the intimate scale of the operation. The experience is hosted by the Goldfarbs themselves, who share the story of their journey from grape sellers to cult winemakers. The setting is the estate itself, modest and unpretentious, with the 8 acres of vineyard visible in every direction. The personal nature of the experience creates genuine connections between the producers and their visitors. The $110 tasting fee reflects the exclusivity and the caliber of the wine.

Anomaly's name is its philosophy. In a valley of 500 wineries, 8 acres and 500 cases is genuinely anomalous, and the Goldfarbs have embraced that identity rather than fighting it. The wine exists because two people tasted what their vineyard was capable of and decided to keep the best for themselves. That decision, replicated vintage after vintage, has created one of Napa Valley's most coveted small-production wines and one of its most intimate tasting experiences.