Good suggestion of A. Rafanelli, I don’t think if I’ve seen that recommendation yet in this thread. Their regular cab is consistently below 14.5% ABV, Terrace Select is a good representation of what their best fruit+cooperage will do. I also very much like their Estate Blend, which is a 60/40 blend of Cabernet and Merlot. Over the last year, my friend shared a wonderful bottle of 2007 Merlot, that was fresh, integrated, and a joy to drink. So I can say that A. Rafanelli, though not Napa, should be considered.
Based on the wine types you like to drink, I’d suggest you look to Paso-Robles. They have numerous Rhone types there. Way more than Napa… Over the mountain to Sonoma, Dry Creek and Alexander Valley you will find more Rhones as well. For Napa, you will find several Bordeaux’ish blends. For Burgundy’ish Pinot’s, I don’t know… I do not get many “barnyard” characteristics from Napa or Sonoma that I would normally equate to Burgs.
For right/left bank blends that remind me of France (dirty fruit), Peter Micheal, Morlet, Dominus, and Melka pop into my mind. They are all north of 100 per bottle though…
Sadly Dominus is now north of $200, even for the relatively unheralded 2017. I do think your tastes have to run Right Bank for Dominus to make sense (mine do! )
Have to be honest - I opened a 2003 Rafanelli Terrace Select tonight and was expecting an oaky dumpster fire after 19 years with mixed provenance. It was shockingly good. Birth year wine for my daughter, and David pulled out of his library for her ~15 years ago.
My recent experiences are limited to a 1990 Dominus, which was otherworldly and very much reminiscent of the best of Bordeaux, and a 2018 Napanook, which was a generic Napa red that wasn’t worth the money (to me). I would have loved to have tried the 2018 Dominus, but I didn’t feel like paying $300, so I have no idea in what style it is being made.
I took “Napa Cab” in the title to mean Napa Bordeaux-blend, but agree that may not have been the OP’s intent.
I’m going to take a different tack here and suggest that this is a bit of a square-peg situation. If you like and prefer “Old World” (as evidenced by the other wines you say you usually enjoy), why not continue your explorations in that realm? The two Napa wines you say you liked are $60 and above. For that money (and much less), there’s an ocean of fantastic Old World wines out there.
California can be difficult because it can be 80% cab and 20% merlot and they can still be labeled cab w/o calling it a bdx blend. It does require some knowledge about the wines specifically.
This is not a “California” thing. It’s a Federal regulation, and the minimum for a single-variety-labeled wine is 75%.
The producer is not obligated to state other varieties. So, it could be 75% Cabernet, 15% Pinot Noir, 3% Chenin Blanc, and 7% Catawba, and be labeled “Cabernet Sauvignon.”