2020 Pop 300 Rose Napa Valley

2020 Pop 300 Rose Napa Valley

with No Comment $30 and underKevin VogtNapaOakvilleRoséUSA

POP 300

2020 ROSÉ
NAPA VALLEY

2020 Pop 300 Rose Napa Valley
Pop 300 spotlights a micro-parcel of Pinot Noir near To Kalon Vineyard’s center called the Wilsey Vineyard. This unique site exposes Oakville’s intriguing complexity with a fresh perspective of brightly focused fruit and refreshing style. Recently recognized by Antonio Galloni on his in-depth Oakville AVA map, the vineyard’s very existence was known only by a handful of Oakville locals until Pop 300’s debut in 2012. POP 300 is a wine for those in the know, and with just 141 cases made, hopefully, it stays that way for a bit longer. 
 
Oakville produces some of the world’s most remarkable Cabernet Sauvignon, but very few people know that Pinot Noir exists in the region. Created by Luke Russ, Oakville-raised, and the Commercial Director at O’Shaughnessy Winery, this genuinely unique Rosé of Pinot Noir is truly special. 
 
Luke makes his Rosé in a piercing style, with a unique floral lift, achieved by co-fermenting with a fragrant white. Enhanced with a small amount of Grenache Blanc from a secret vineyard on Mount Veeder, this scarcely available 2020 Rosé should be on your “drink me” list today.
 
POP 300
2020 ROSÉ
NAPA VALLEY
 
Your Price: $29.99
 
 
“The 2020 POP 300 rose is here. And boy aren’t we pleased to have been able to make this wine during this wild ride of a year. Harvested early in the morning on September 4th we had a beautiful crop to work with this year. As I have done in the past I co- fermented part of this wine with a floral white. This year I went with a small amount of Grenache Blanc from a low production vineyard on Mt. Veeder. This has added to the Pinot Noir base with playful aromas of unripe mango, white peach and lime zest. The wine was fermented in a combination neutral French oak and stainless steel barrels with no malolactic conversion. 141 cases produced”
2017 Tyros Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley

2017 Tyros Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley

with No Comment $30 and underCabernet SauvignonCarnerosKevin VogtNapaOak KnollSaint HelenaUSA

TYROS

CABERNET SAUVIGNON
2017 NAPA VALLEY

2017 Tyros Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley
Encapsulating the breadth of Napa Valley terroir, Tyros Cabernet Sauvignon orchestrates from vineyards spanning the length of Napa Valley, created to be a mindful expression of its varietal, region, and vintage. The makers of Tyros, Silenus winery’s vineyard was a walnut orchard, converted to Cabernet vines in 1968; the family sold fruit for years to Silver Oak, Robert Mondavi, and Inglenook, often being a component in their reserve wines. With triple 90-point reviews and priced at $30, you can’t go wrong with a case.  
 
The winemaking team crafted Tyros around a tapestry of meticulously chosen vineyards, including; Silenus Oak Knoll Estate and surrounding sites, St Helena, Pope Valley, and Carneros. 23% Merlot contributes suppleness, a softer texture, and cherry fruit, balancing the Cabernet’s tannins. 
 
They then aged Tyros for 22 months in 50% new French oak and 10% new American oak Barrels, perfectly balancing the fruit’s lushness and natural tannins. The resulting wine is gracefully balanced, long, and expressive, and at $30, it’s impressive at this price level. 
 
TYROS
CABERNET SAUVIGNON
2017 NAPA VALLEY
Retails at: $35
 
Your Price: $29.99
 
 
“This is an enjoyable and approachable Cabernet that is blended with 23% Merlot. Black cherry, cassis and mocha highlight a soft, supple palate. It has a hint of dried herb on the finish.”
90 Points “Editors’ Choice”
 
“Quite bold and ripe, this teeters a bit, with a prune note amid the cherry, raspberry and plum confiture flavors. Features pretty spice accents, a relatively silky feel and a lingering mesquite element for added range. For fans of the style.”
90 Points
 
“Earthy, black and blue fruit aromas over a very lovely, juicy palate showing cassis, currants, cocoa and coffee.”
90 Points
2018 Ilaria Malbec Napa Valley

2018 Ilaria Malbec Napa Valley

with No Comment $30-$40CoombsvilleKevin VogtMalbecNapaUSA

ILARIA

2018 MALBEC
NAPA VALLEY

2018 Ilaria Malbec Napa Valley
Brazenly expressing their heritage, Ilaria wines are strategically crafted in small lots to showcase their unique identity. The wines highlight the convergence of exceptional Napa Valley terroir and the farming expertise of UC Davis grads Anna and Mario Monticelli. Their Malbec embodies the soul of Napa Valley and builds on Anna and Mario’s accumulative experience, including Chateau Cheval-Blanc, Bryant, Pina, Antinori, and Trinchero. As Jeb Dunnuck writes, “I’d happily drink bottles any time over the coming decade,” and here’s your chance to make it happen. 
 
Ilaria’s Malbec balances the interplay of Coombsville fruit’s elegance and concentrated Atlas Peak flavors. 15% Cabernet Sauvignon adds strength to Malbec’s supple nature, resulting in a harmoniously textured, full-bodied red. 
 
Born from a combination of volcanic and loam soils, this 2018 Malbec highlights the vintage’s power, along with the vast skillset of Anna and Mario and their ability to produce expressive wines that are terroir-transparent and mindfully balanced. 
 
ILARIA
2018 MALBEC
NAPA VALLEY
Retails at: $42
 
Your Price: $39.99
 
 
“…. Beautiful blue fruits, violets, bouquet garni, and peppered meat-like nuances emerge from the glass, and it’s medium to full-bodied, with a fresh, elegant texture, terrific tannins, and a great finish. I’d happily drink bottles any time over the coming decade.”
92 Points
 
“…. the deep garnet-purple colored 2018 Malbec gives up exuberant notes of plum preserves, blueberry pie and Morello cherries with hints of Sichuan pepper, cardamom and cedar chest. Medium to full-bodied, the palate has lovely freshness cutting through the intense black fruit flavors, finishing with a plush texture and great harmony. 414 cases were made.”
91+ Points
2017 Sebright Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley

2017 Sebright Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley

with No Comment $60-$70Cabernet SauvignonKevin VogtNapaUSA

SEBRIGHT

2017 RESERVE 
CABERNET SAUVIGNON
NAPA VALLEY

2017 Sebright Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley
Intensely captivating, Sebright Reserve Cabernet is magnetic in its delivery, lucidly exposing its site-specific terroir with expert balance and unreplicable charisma. Their Reserve Cabernet comes from their own single-acre Garnett Creek Estate Vineyard, double planted to clone 7, a clone also used by Screaming Eagle. Concentrated with penetrating red fruits, detailed minerality, and a singular focus, at $125, their 2017 Reserve is an incredible wine, but at our price, there aren’t enough superlatives to describe it. 
 
Farmed sustainably, the volcanic ash soils of Sebright’s Estate Vineyard produce intensely flavored berries, yielding just enough fruit for two barrels. The wine is kept for 24 months in new, premium French oak barrels, complimenting the powerfully concentrated flavors. 
 
Veteran Calistoga winemaker Tom Eddy makes the wine, and this exceptional Cabernet Sauvignon perfectly reflects his vast experience. If you haven’t tried Sebright before, and you’re looking for a wine that none of your friends have heard of but will rock them to their core when they try it, this is it.
 
SEBRIGHT
2017 RESERVE 
CABERNET SAUVIGNON
NAPA VALLEY
Retails at: $125
 
 
 
“The 2017 Sebright Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon is a richly focused, exquisitely balanced and impeccably made wine, with a seductive nose of blackberry syrup, red currants, lightly toasted oak, and lovely sweet florals. The intense palate displays its power in a more linear style that’s focused without excess fleshiness. Layers of sweet crushed blackberries and concentrated black cherry juice combine with hints of tobacco, leather, and spice to create an awe-inspiring mouth experience. The lavish finish cuts a swath across your palate, then lingers there for over a minute. A true delight to contemplate.” 
97+ Points
2014 Morlet Cabernet Sauvignon Les Petits Morlet

2014 Morlet Cabernet Sauvignon Les Petits Morlet

with No Comment $90-$100Cabernet SauvignonKevin VogtNapaUSA

MORLET

2014 CABERNET SAUVIGNON 
LES PETITS MORLET 

2014 Morlet Cabernet Sauvignon Les Petits Morlet
Luc Morlet has extensive winemaking experience in France. With that knowledge, he can manipulate old-world principles and techniques and perfectly adapt them to California wines, which sets him apart from the pack. The resulting wines harmoniously balance intensity, richness, and complexity in their youth and have the capacity to cellar gracefully for many years. His 2014 Le Petits Cabernet beautifully displays his remarkable ability. With seven years of age, this wine is enchantingly hedonistic and enjoyable now or over the next decade or more in the future.
 
The Morlet Les Petits Cabernet is a Cuvée style blend constructed from younger vines grown on many iconic properties where Luc sources fruit. Like numerous outstanding 2014 Cabernets, this wine is compelling and highly aromatic. 
 
Luc grew up on his family’s vineyard in France, and he gained extensive experience making wine in Burgundy and Bordeaux before replacing John Kongsgaard as winemaker at Newton Cellars in 1996. In 2001 Luc joined Peter Michael Winery, continuing the legacy of Helen Turley and Mark Aubert, crafting Peter Michael from 2001 through 2005.
 
MORLET
2014 CABERNET SAUVIGNON 
LES PETITS MORLET
 
Your Price: $95
 
 
“The entry-level Bordeaux cuvée is the 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Les Petits Morlet, which is 75% Cabernet Sauvignon and the balance Malbec, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot in 2014. This cuvée gets younger vine fruit as well as the fruit that didn’t make the cut for the upper cuvées, so the blend changes every year. The 2014 is a beautiful wine in its own right and worth your time and money. Crème de cassis, chocolate, and violet notes all flow to a full-bodied, deep, impressively concentrated effort that shows both the house elegance and purity, and the charming nature of the 2014 vintage.” 
93 Points
2018 Hoopla Cabernet Sauvignon California

2018 Hoopla Cabernet Sauvignon California

with No Comment $30 and underCabernet SauvignonKevin VogtNapaOakvilleUSA

HOOPLA

CABERNET SAUVIGNON
2018 CALIFORNIA 

2018 Hoopla Cabernet Sauvignon California
A howling value, Hoopla’s California Cabernet is a mixed breed born from doggone good stock. Proprietor Lindsay Hoopes owns 35 prime acres in Oakville, and her 2018 California Cabernet includes fruit from Paso Robles’ top sites and other meticulously chosen vineyards in Monterey and Napa Valley. Raised by Anne Vawter, whose experience includes working alongside Heidi Barrett as the assistant winemaker at Paradigm for years, at $24, this Cab could become man’s second-best friend. 
 
Hoopla is a cross-breed that includes barrels that didn’t go into Hoopes purebred bottlings from Napa Valley, Oakville, and Howell Mountain. The wine offers a lush coat of smooth red and black fruits, intriguing spice and floral characteristics, toasty oak, and absolutely no bite. 
 
Kenneled for 20 months in French oak, the 2018 release is Cabernet Sauvignon, harnessed with other Bordeaux varieties, offering a rare breed of concentrated, focused fruit, uncommon at this value price. Keep this one on a short leash.
 
HOOPLA
CABERNET SAUVIGNON
2018 CALIFORNIA
 
Your Price: $24
 
 
“The 2018 Hoopla California Cabernet is a ruby red, juicy Cabernet that sings with fresh aromas of blackberries, black plum, and roasted coffee. In the mouth, dense flavors of blackberries, black cherry, and cocoa powder mingle with broad, mouth- filling tannins. The lengthy finish is perfumed with vanilla bean.”
2016 Maroon Special Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Coombsville

2016 Maroon Special Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Coombsville

with No Comment $40-$50Cabernet SauvignonCoombsvilleKevin VogtNapaUSA

MAROON

SPECIAL RESERVE
CABERNET SAUVIGNON 
2016 COOMBSVILLE 

2016 Maroon Special Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Coombsville
Fueled by unparalleled quality and extreme scarcity, the following for Maroon’s Special Reserve Cabernet grows stronger with each vintage. Patronage is furthered by winemaker Chris Corley’s ability to harness Coombsville fruit’s power and deliver it with finesse and elegance. The Special Reserve is created from the top-performing blocks in the vineyard and priced in line with Coombsville greats Favia, Merus, and Meteor at $160 retail; As you can imagine, at less than 1/3 of the retail price, we have great difficulty keeping it stocked. 
 
Deeper and more defined than Maroon’s other bottlings, winemaker Chris Corley introduced as little manipulation as possible during the winemaking process, allowing the remarkable terroir of Maroon’s best Vineyard Blocks to shine.
 
The 2016 Special Reserve is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon and aged for a full 24 months in oak before bottling. If you’re looking for an elegant but powerful Cabernet with plenty of definition and complexity, this is it.
 
MAROON
SPECIAL RESERVE
CABERNET SAUVIGNON 
2016 COOMBSVILLE
Retails at: $160
 
 
 
“The 2016 vintage of Maroon Special Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon has a rich, intense nose with briary wild berries, graphite, fresh sage, and hints of vanilla. The palate is concentrated, with penetrating crushed blackberries, dense black plum, decadent cassis, and an ethereal mouthfeel. It is a concentrated and focused wine with a finish that is elegant, powerful, refined, and long. It is a gift for your mouth now and will continue to drink beautifully for another decade or more.”
97 points
2017 Beaulieu Vineyards Georges De Latour Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon

2017 Beaulieu Vineyards Georges De Latour Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon

with No Comment $100 and overCabernet SauvignonKevin VogtNapaRutherfordUSA

BEAULIEU VINEYARDS

GEORGES DE LATOUR
2017 PRIVATE RESERVE
CABERNET SAUVIGNON

2017 Beaulieu Vineyards Georges De Latour Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon
A wine of grand distinction, BV’s Georges De Latour Cabernet is a liquid legacy epitomizing Rutherford’s distinctive terroir with a transpicuous window into the fragrance of Rutherford and deep connection to the area’s roots. Paid homage by winemaking and fruit selection of the highest level that and even after 80 vintages the wine is as solid as ever. This 2017 offers a choreographed union of power and grace, and with double high-90s reviews, it’s a joy to behold. 
 
Beaulieu Vineyards is a timeless classic, embodying every trait that makes Rutherford so wondrous. Created from vines planted in the early 1900s, George de Latour’s first vintage was in 1936, released in 1940 to honor the winery founder’s passing. 
 
Under the guidance of one of the world’s most iconic winemakers, Andre Tchelistcheff, BV built on a reputation of excellence and achievements. Composed inside the winery’s new state-of-the-art facility, Georges de Latour perfectly balances time-honored traditions with modern technologies.
 
Fun side note, friend and former head winemaker at BV (27 years there) Joel Aiken tastes with us on our tasting panel each week.
 
BEAULIEU VINEYARDS
GEORGES DE LATOUR
2017 PRIVATE RESERVE
CABERNET SAUVIGNON
Retails at: $145
 
Your Price: $125
 
 
“This is one of the most balanced Georges de Latour, offering currants, minerals, fresh herbs and spices. It’s full-bodied with very fine tannins. Long and focused. Subtle and complex. Very elegant and refined in the end. Reminds me of classic, old vintages from the 1960s and 1970s. Drink or hold.”
97 Points
2016 Zuidema Grenache McGah Vineyard Rutherfor

2016 Zuidema Grenache McGah Vineyard Rutherford

with No Comment $30-$40GrenacheKevin VogtNapaRutherfordUSA

ZUIDEMA

2016 GRENACHE
MCGAH VINEYARD
RUTHERFORD

2016 Zuidema Grenache McGah Vineyard Rutherfor
Freed from a one-acre block of gnarly head-trained Grenache vines that were nearly re-planted to Cabernet, Zuidema Grenache was 30 years in the making and is a passion project by one of Napa’s most respected winemakers. Rudy Zuidema is the winemaker for Mastery and has held winemaking positions at Robert Craig, Honig, and Ehlers Estate, to name a few. His pensive winemaking style results in balanced, complex wines, deep with individuality and varietal truth. At $38, the value is unmistakable. 
 
Sourced from the McGah Vineyard in Eastern Rutherford, Zuidema Grenache powerfully reflects the area’s nutrient-rich, rocky soils and ideal microclimate. The Gobelet trained vines yield various ripeness levels, and that lack of perfect consistency is what Rudy looks for to create the naturally rustic complexity in his wine.
 
Analytically hand-harvesting, de-stemming, native yeast fermenting, and three times daily punch overs for 10-12 days, Rudy’s cumulative knowledge over the past 30 years is commanding in this wine. If you’re looking for something a little different from one of Napa Valley’s greatest terroirs, this is it. 
 
ZUIDEMA
2016 GRENACHE
MCGAH VINEYARD
RUTHERFORD
Retails at: $42
 
Your Price: $38
 
 
“The 2016 expresses incredible fruit purity and opens with aromas of cherry blossom, ripe plum, cinnamon spice, fresh strawberries, and vanilla bean. Flavors of cherry pie, wild berry jam, licorice, and orange zest, layer with subtle herbal nuances. The well-knit tannins are juicy and rustic, integrating with a clean, crisp acid profile. The wine finishes with rolling waves of black raspberry, new leather, dark spice, and graham cracker piecrust.
131 cases produced. 100% Grenache”
2013 Together Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley

2013 Together Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley

with No Comment $30-$40Cabernet SauvignonKevin VogtNapaUSA

TOGETHER

CABERNET SAUVIGNON 
2013 NAPA VALLEY

2013 Together Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley
Together’s 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon is flawless, deepened with six years of bottle development, accentuating the mountain fruit’s power, and Grant Long Jr’s gentle winemaking techniques. The once muscular profile is now silken, with soft tannins, balanced acidity, opulent fruit, and balanced, integrated oak. At our price, words cannot do this wine justice with how it’s drinking right now. 
 
Grant wove together Cabernet Sauvignon sourced from the surrounding mountains of Napa Valley and a vintage unanimously recognized for its unrivaled quality. Robert Parker alerted readers that the 2013 vintage “…may turn out to be the finest vintage I have experienced in tasting North Coast varietals over the last 37 years.” 
 
This remarkable wine is predominantly Cabernet Sauvignon, enhanced with Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc, which were vital in balancing the distinct Mountain terroirs. The wine was cave-aged for around 20 months in premium oak barrels, and after six years in the bottle, it’s stunningly brilliant.
 
TOGETHER
CABERNET SAUVIGNON 
2013 NAPA VALLEY
Retails at: $80
 
 
 
“The Precursor to the lovely 2015 and 2014 vintages that I’ve written about is the Together Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2013, which is an absolute delight to drink. It begins with a concentrated nose of wild berries, bramble, cocoa powder, Spring florals, and wood spice. The concentrated palate is supple and opulent, with the wine’s characteristic black cherry/berry blend balancing the brighter, fresher red fruit notes and finishing with a chocolaty characteristic. Like the two previous vintages, it is rich, densely concentrated, and powerful, and the finish is smooth, satiny, balanced, and ready to drink right now.” 
93 Points, Kevin M. Vogt, Master Sommelier