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Final Call For a Fabled Boutique Winery
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 From the buyer
Ryan Woodhouse
Today we have a mind-blowing offer on two standout wines from Trois Noix. Unfortunately, this small, boutique Napa producer is closing its doors, and we snapped up the remaining wines at deeply discounted prices that are almost too good to be true.
Trois Noix was a wonderful project from second-generation vintner Jaime Araujo. Jaime's parents, Bart and Daphne Araujo, once owned the iconic Eisele Vineyard, producing some legendary Cabernets throughout the 1990s and 2000s before selling the property to Château Latour owner François Pinault in 2013. They went on to launch Accendo Cellars and Wheeler Farms, earning continued critical acclaim. The Araujo family is deeply connected in Napa Valley, and Jaime grew up in the wine business with mentors including legendary winemakers Françoise Peschon, Nigel Kinsman, and Michel Rolland.
In 2013, after decades in France, Jaime returned to Napa and started Trois Noix. The focus has always been on great vineyards and meticulous farming. Working closely with revered grape growers like Steve Matthiasson and Jim Verhey, the wines have incredible purity, balance, and sense of place. The winemaking style is very classical, favoring freshness, restraint, and focus over richness, extraction, and oak. The wines have wonderful varietal typicity and elegance that speak to their vineyard pedigree and a subtle hand in the cellar.
The pricing we have on these wines is likely less than it cost to make them. In an effort to move out the remaining inventory, we struck an incredible deal that means these are most definitely priced to move. The wines will all age beautifully, so there's plenty of potential to case up and enjoy them over the next 3, 5, or even 10 years. It's sad to see Trois Noix go, but the silver lining is getting to enjoy these great wines at rock-bottom prices.
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Critic reviews
| 94 pts · James Suckling · September 2025 Ah, a breath of fresh air, as this vivid, appetizing and mouthwatering wine counters the prevailing Napa trend of rich, full-bodied whites. An almost electric feel and vibrant citrus light up the palate. Flavors of grapefruit, lemon zest, green-apple skin and flint keep you coming back for more. Drink now. |
| 94 pts · The Wine Palate The 2024 Sauvignon Blanc Ryan’s Vineyard (around 60% Sauvignon Musqué and 40% Sauvignon Blanc) was aged for 6 months entirely in neutral oak. It sails out of the glass with vivacious notes of lemon tart, lime blossoms, and yuzu, followed by hints of green apples and chopped herbs. The medium-bodied palate is crisp and intense with loads of citrus-fruit layers and a long, chalky finish. |
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| Staff reviews — 2024 Trois Noix "Ryan's Vineyard" Oak Knoll District Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc |
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Ryan Woodhouse, K&L Domestic Wine Buyer · August 25, 2026
Ryan's Vineyard is one of the best sites in Napa Valley for Sauvignon Blanc. This 30-year-old, organically farmed parcel in the cool Oak Knoll District of southern Napa Valley enjoys daily fog and deep silt soils that are perfect for the variety. Meticulously farmed by Jim Verhey, this is a longtime source for Accendo's Sauvignon Blanc, which sells for $80 a bottle.
The 2024 Ryan's Sauvignon Blanc is predominantly made from Musqué clone (66%), famed for its floral aromatics and more tropical fruit profile. The remaining 34% comes from a crisper, more citrus- and mineral-driven clone that balances the blend beautifully. The wine was aged entirely in neutral French oak barrels for five months to build texture and complexity. I LOVE Sauvignon Blanc, and this has quickly become my new house white. |
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Matthew Landau Hassan, K&L Staff Member · August 12, 2026
The Sauvignon Musqué does the talking here: jasmine, citrus blossom, and white peach lift out of the glass, backed by lychee and honeydew. Six months of neutral oak on fine lees builds a supple, faintly creamy texture without ever weighing down the fruit. Bright, focused acidity carries a long, mineral-laced finish. Oak Knoll’s cool nights and big diurnal swings show in the tension—this is barrel-fermented Napa SB with Sancerre ambitions, not a supermarket pour. A staggering steal at this price. |
| K&L Notes |
| From Jaime Araujo’s Trois Noix project, this Sauvignon Blanc is sourced from Ryan's Vineyard in the Oak Knoll District, one of Napa Valley’s cooler southern AVAs. The site detail matters here, since Oak Knoll’s moderate growing conditions are well suited to Sauvignon Blanc in a valley better known for Cabernet. |
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Critic reviews
| 97 pts · Decanter This is the best wine I've ever tasted from Trois Noix. It’s full-flavoured, complex, and rich without ever feeling heavy, framed by gorgeously polished tannins with a cocoa powder quality. The wine is supremely fresh and inviting, with minty eucalyptus and sagebrush notes lifting cassis, cherry, and white pepper-infused plum fruit, all supported by a spine of crisp acidity. Really hitting all the marks in 2023. |
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| Staff reviews — 2023 Trois Noix "Rancho Pequeño Vineyard" Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon |
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Ryan Woodhouse, K&L Domestic Wine Buyer · August 25, 2026
Rancho Pequeño is the Araujo family's own estate vineyard on the prime east Oakville bench at the foot of the Vaca Mountains. This small vineyard just off Silverado Trail sits on an alluvial fan of volcanic rocks that have tumbled down from the neighboring mountainside. This small part of Napa is famed for producing some of the most highly prized Cabernet Sauvignon fruit in the entire region.
As you might expect, Jaime produced this Cabernet in a very Old World-inspired style, favoring structure, savory varietal character, and complexity rather than chasing an overtly ripe, super-fruity style. In many ways, this is quite the opposite of what one might expect from east Oakville fruit, feeling perhaps more Coombsville-esque.
The wine has brooding dark fruit with sage, mulberry, camphor, cedar, graphite, and iron. It's long and linear on the palate rather than thick and jamy, with savory cedar and leather emerging as well. The noble tannins here suggest a good decant if drinking young, allowing the wine some time to relax. There's a long life ahead here for sure. I think this will be a fascinating 10 - 15-year wine and probably a 20-year wine if cellared well. |
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Matthew Landau Hassan, K&L Staff Member · August 12, 2026
The Araujo family’s own east-Oakville estate, on red volcanic loam off the Vaca alluvial fan—and it wears that pedigree quietly. Cassis, black cherry, and dark plum framed by cedar, crushed rock, and violet. Just 25% new French oak and modest ripeness make for a restrained, elegant style: firm but polished tannins, real freshness, and a long, savory finish. This is Oakville Cabernet with the volume dialed back and the detail turned up—serious wine at a fraction of its usual ask. |
| K&L Notes |
| From a small Oakville site, Rancho Pequeño sits within one of Napa Valley's established Cabernet zones. Trois Noix is the Napa project founded by Jaime Araujo, and the 2023 vintage followed a long, even growing season that gave many Napa producers a less compressed harvest than recent heat-driven years. |
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