(TDB) - The recent success of the 2016 Napa Valley Wine Auction raised US$14.3 million for charities and stirred fanatic bidding for the classic Cabernet Sauvignons styles of Staglin Family Vineyards, Amuse Bouche Winery, Tusk Estates and Quintessa.

The top lot was a $1.05 million package offered by Staglin Family Vineyards which included its wine and a luxury trip to S. Africa. Yet Patrick Cappiello, operating partner and wine director of New York-based Rebelle and Pearl & Ash restaurants, is not looking toward those hallowed names for his restaurant’s wine lists.

Instead, Mr Cappiello is looking for a newer, fresher, leaner style of Cabernet Sauvignon and other varietals, often with lower alcohol, that are being made by an increasing amount of young, dynamic winemakers in and around the Napa Valley.

“Winemakers in the sixties and seventies looked to Europe as inspiration and instruction on how to make wines,” says Mr. Cappeillo. “Bordeaux was their role model, with the objective being to make structured wines that could benefit from bottle age and required time and patience to enjoy at their best. Things changed in the seventies and eighties, when consumers began to follow wine writers and critics as a shortcut to discover what wines they should be buying, and became enormously influenced by them.

“The 1990s was when the full throttle, high alcohol wines hit their zenith, anointing many wineries with celebrity status and high prices to match. This was the moment when winemaking became focused on the attainment of fame and wealth. Things began to turn around in 2005, when Steve Matthiasson began the movement of the leaner, lower alcohol style of wine and influenced the new generation of winemakers.”

Named “Sommelier of the Year 2014” by Food & Wine Magazine and “Sommelier of the Year 2015” by Eater National, the heavily tattooed Mr Cappiello – who lives in Manhattan’s Lower East Side – credits the wineries below as being ones to watch.