Behind every great wine, there is an even better story. This Orin Swift Mercury Head Wine Review not only rates this high-end Napa Cabernet Sauvignon, but it also tells the incredible story.
The History of Orin Swift
Like all good Cinderella stories, the history of Orin Swift is a rags-to-riches tale that takes a boy next door from obscurity to super stardom.The Orin Swift marketing machine has done such a great job building name recognition that many casual wine drinkers think that Orin Swift is a winemaker. The reality is that Orin Swift isn’t a person at all. To understand this Napa phenomenon, let’s start at the beginning.
In 1995, college student David Phinney spent a semester in Florence, Italy, and fell in love with wine. In 1997, he worked as a temporary harvest worker at Robert Mondavi. After harvest, this very young man decided to go all-in in the wine industry. One year later, he founded Orin Swift Cellars, which he named after his parents; his dad’s middle name is Orin and his mom’s maiden name is Swift. He couldn’t afford to go full-time in his own winery, though, so he started Orin Swift Cellars as a side hustle while working for other wineries
Orin Swift The Prisoner
Dave bought the best fruit he could buy, which at the time was two tons of premium Zinfandel grapes. He didn’t have money to buy winemaking equipment, so borrowed space from Robert Mondavi. Dave then began production on The Prisoner, arguably one of the first viral wines. as a California Zinfandel blend. For the 2000 vintage, Dave made 365 cases and sold the wine at retail for $25 per bottle. Over the next decade, the production and price both increased.
David Phinney Cashes In
A decade later when Dave was in his mid-thirties, he sold The Prisoner label, recipe and rights for a reported $40 million to Huneeus Vintners, owners of Quintessa. At the time, production was 85,000 cases per year, and sold for $35 per bottle.
Dave had a non-compete which prevented him from making any Zinfandel wines for eight years, so he threw himself into developing his Orin Swift portfolio. This turned out to be the right move, because he sold the Orin Swift brand to jug-wine juggernaut Gallo Wine in 2016. Gallo not only has a premium wine division, but it also has the deep pockets to acquire great wines.
All told, the Orin Swift wines generated about $300 million in acquisition fees. This rags-to-riches story happens all the time in Silicon Valley, but it’s very rare in Napa Valley. At 46, our still-young entrepreneur didn’t buy a yacht and join the jet set. Dave Phinney—no longer a “prisoner” to his non-compete—started a distillery, Savage & Cooke.
Orin Swift Mercury Head Wine Review Video
Orin Swift Mercury Head
Now that you know the history of Orin Swift, let’s taste the wine behind the $300 million dollar Cinder-fella. The Mercury Head wine bottle has an actual Mercury Head dime embedded in the bottle, which is the entirety of the front label. The dime on my bottle is from 1945, which is the last year that Mercury Head dimes were made.
At $130 a bottle, this wine is a special occasion treat. In the video above, I’m tasting the 2012, which was given 96 points by Robert Parker. On the nose, you get sweet blackcurrant, raspberry, cigar box, and sandalwood. When you taste it, you get a medium-body wine that’s quintessential high-end Napa Cab… it’s fruit forward with layers upon layers of complexity, silky-smooth, and has finish that lasts more than 45 second. (And yes, I timed it.) It’s 15.5% alcohol, which could be overbearing in a lesser wine, but the high alcohol is balanced with a fresh acidity
Although not cheap, it gets two thumbs up because let’s face it… the Mercury Head is poetry in a glass. Dave Phinney, we salute you.
The Prisoner Continues to “Take No Prisoners”
The cash registers continue to sing cha-ching for The Prisoner, especially with the younger demographic. Huneeus Vintners doubled production within five years of their acquisition to 170,000 cases. In 2016, they sold The Prisoner brand to Constellation Brands, one of the world’s largest wine companies, for $285 million.
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