***BOTTLING LATE JUNE, SHIPPING SHORTLY AFTER***
It’s always interesting to see the proposed terms for a deal. Many prohibit mention of the winery’s exact pricing. Other NDAs prohibit varietal percentages. Others are extra sensitive about barreling details. Some (like today’s source) want the sub-appellation struck from the label to keep the “guessing pool” wide. The list goes on. Given the names we’re buying from, we’re more than happy to accommodate as long as the price is right.
Today’s find is a stunner – a Cabernet that even a year ago would never have seen the contract terms we eventually agreed on. But with industry reports highlighting the rising winery costs of everything from farming to compliance, more owners than ever are looking to secure a sale instead of waiting the usual 3-5 years past vintage to start selling Cabs. This means we continue to field quiet inquiries from industry titans, and it’s why offers like this are possible: a declassified triple-digit Oakville bombshell for well over 75% OFF!
Lot 619 is a magnificent Cabernet Sauvignon with a light touch of Cab Franc. Oakville isn’t printed on the label, but the moment this wine hits your palate, you know. Sourced from a premier site in the heart of the valley with an exquisite mountain fruit addition to elevate the wine to gorgeous heights, this is a textbook 2024 offering – powerful, dynamic, and already drinkable in its youth. A $100+/bottle before we worked our negotiating magic, we’ve landed this for our readers at less than a quarter of the original price: $25/bottle! Have you been to the grocery store lately and checked the price tags in the wine section? Even the mass-produced reds cost more these days! Why bother when you can simply click through and get world-class Cabernet delivered without even leaving your house?
Our price: $299/case DELIVERED, $24+/bottle to your door!
The beauty of this wine is the simplicity of its winemaking philosophy – two Cabernet varietals and the perfect marriage of valley floor with mountain terroir. Executed with superb precision, the wine saw aging north of 20 months in 100% French oak barrels with a high percentage of new oak. Big, powerful Napa juice with complementary inputs to match? We weren’t ever going to let this one slip through our fingers.
Concentrated on the pour, aromas of cassis and blackberry layered over fresh-sliced dark cherry rise from the glass, with accents of currant, fresh bay leaf, and garden sage adding savory complexity. The palate is impeccably framed: black cherry, tobacco, and garden herbs weave through toasted spice, vanilla, and mocha amidst high-toned acidity and plentiful, grippy tannins. Uplifted vanilla and baking spice command a long finish in its youth, though a bit of air reveals violets, vanilla blossoms, and cassis persisting across a seemingly endless close. A wine that begs for the next sip.
