2017 Witchery Reserve Cabernet Howell Mountain Two Barrel Production

2017 Witchery Reserve Cabernet Howell Mountain Two Barrel Production

with No Comment $90-$100Cabernet SauvignonHowell MountainKevin VogtNapaUSA

WITCHERY

2017 RESERVE CABERNET
HOWELL MOUNTAIN
TWO BARREL PRODUCTION

2017 Witchery Reserve Cabernet Howell Mountain Two Barrel Production
Witchery translates to an irresistible fascination, and just about everybody that tries it becomes entranced, and collects each subsequent vintage. A single taste of Witchery Cabernet casts a powerful spell beneath the rich, hedonistic flavors, and wine lovers don’t stand a chance. Their two-barrel production Howell Mountain Reserve Cabernet stands tall amongst the area’s most revered producers. With the micro-production and macro quality of this vintage, there will be many people on the hunt for more.
 
The wine team produced this profound interpretation of Howell Mountain Cabernet from an unnamed vineyard that produces majestic quality fruit. The 2017 vintage shows off all of the hallmarks that make the area so desired, with authoritative power, towering structure, and profoundly rich and hedonistic flavors.  
 
This creation was held captive for nearly two years in new French oak barrels, and now with more than a year inside the bottle, the wine is remarkably complex and oozes inky dark berries, black chocolates, spices and hints of violets. With around 50 cases produced, Don’t hesitate to secure yours.
 
WITCHERY
2017 RESERVE CABERNET
HOWELL MOUNTAIN
TWO BARREL PRODUCTION
Retails at: $125
 
Your Price: $99.99
 
 
“There were only two barrels or roughly 50 cases produced of the 2017 vintage of Witchery Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon. This vintage beautifully follows a long string of incredible vintages for Witchery. The nose draws you in with powerful black cherries, ripe plums, balanced Spring lavender, fresh sage, and vanilla spice. Then on the palate, the focused, concentrated flavors begin with ripe mountain blackberries, red currants, and Burgundy plums, complemented by cocoa powder, espresso dust, and layers of complexity. If you are a fan of Witchery’s previous vintages, this one will cast a deep spell upon you as well…”  95 Points
2017 San Leonino Governo All'uso Toscana Sangiovese IGT

2017 San Leonino Governo All’uso Toscana Sangiovese IGT

with No Comment $30 and underItalyKevin VogtSangioveseTuscany

SAN LEONINO

2017 GOVERNO
ALL’USO TOSCANA 
SANGIOVESE IGT

2017 San Leonino Governo All'uso Toscana Sangiovese IGT
Governo is a wine type favored by sommeliers looking for a value-priced Sangiovese with greater depth, richness, and X-factor. Producers make it using similar methods to Amarone, but instead of Valpolicella’s mix of grapes, they use Sangiovese. To make it, winemakers add partially dried grapes back into already fermented Sangiovese, igniting a secondary fermentation, which creates a more profound, more vibrant, and often smoother wine.  
 
Tuscany is where winemakers first developed Governo in the 14th century. It was often a method used by vineyard workers who got paid with the poorest quality grapes in the vineyard. They found that if they added partially raisinated grapes into the already fermented Sangiovese, they could make a deeper, richer Sangiovese that was easier to sell. 
 
San Leonino’s 2017 Governo is 100% Sangiovese and comes from the All’Uso Toscano region in Tuscany. It’s a classically styled wine, with penetrating cherry fruit intertwined with spices, and liquid floral.  
 
SAN LEONINO
2017 GOVERNO
ALL’USO TOSCANA 
SANGIOVESE IGT
 
Your Price: $19.99
 
 
“Intense notes of ripe cassis, cherry, licorice, cedar and spiced oak dominate on both the nose and palate. 100% Sangiovese.”
2016 Joseph Jewell Pinot Noir Russian River Valley

2016 Joseph Jewell Pinot Noir Russian River Valley

with No Comment $30 and underKevin VogtPinot NoirRussian River ValleySonomaUSA

JOSEPH JEWELL 

2016 PINOT NOIR
RUSSIAN RIVER VALLEY

2016 Joseph Jewell Pinot Noir Russian River Valley
There are many reasons why Joseph Jewell Pinot Noir is the only wine that I’ve featured on my top-five-wines of the year list more than once. The most distinctive trait that’s become a hallmark of this wine is the satiny texture and weight on the palate, which is sublime. Every time I taste it, I’m perplexed that a wine we can offer at this value price can taste like it costs more than double. 
 
Joseph Jewell marries fruit from renowned sites Hallberg, Floodgate, and Bucher Vineyards. Williams-Selyem and Gary Farrell Pinot fans likely recognize these sites as being spectacular.  
 
On the palate, the 2016 vintage is full, rich and opens up to a basket of black cherries, ripe raspberries, black tea, and blue violets. The wine team elevated it for around 11 months in French oak, and then it blossomed generously over the last three years in the bottle.
 
JOSEPH JEWELL 
2016 PINOT NOIR
RUSSIAN RIVER VALLEY
Retails at: $40
 
 
 
“Doubling down on the extreme quality that Joseph Jewell Russian River Valley Pinot Noir has produced in previous vintages, the 2016 sets an all new high water mark. The alluring nose has the most beautiful blend of pomegranate, red pie cherries, mixed florals and hints of spice. The mesmerizing mouthfeel has a supple, satiny texture, along with a mouth-filling explosion of ripe black raspberries, sweet red plums, tart cranberry, cherry cola, chamomile tea and asian spice. The rich, supple texture and concentrated flavors are perfectly balanced by a mouth-quenching freshness that leaves me begging for another sip. I am seriously sitting here shaking my head and trying to remember if I have ever had as great a wine at this low price. Don’t think so.” 98 Points, Kevin M. Vogt, Master Sommelier
2017 Venge Silencieux Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley

2017 Venge Silencieux Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley

with No Comment $40-$50Cabernet SauvignonKevin VogtNapaOakvilleUSA

VENGE

2017 SILENCIEUX
CABERNET SAUVIGNON
NAPA VALLEY

2017 Venge Silencieux Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley
Silencieux means quiet, but there’s absolutely nothing silent about Venge’s Cabernet Silencieux, other than it could leave you speechless when you try it. It’s made by Kirk Venge, whom you might recognize from high-scoring Janzen and Bacio Divino wines, as well as several other cult brands. Kirk made it in a larger-than-life style that’s deep, inky, and highly-extracted. Of course, at under fifty bucks, you might want to keep Silencieux about it until you get your case… 
 
Silencieux was given a voice from the winery’s Estate Vineyard in Oakville, their Bone Ash Vineyard in Calistoga, and includes fruit from Rentaria’s Oakville 88, Kenefick Ranch, and Star in Rutherford.  
 
Kirk created it using a 100% gravity-flow method and a state-of-the-art Pellenc optical sorter, which sorts the fruit berry-by-berry, leaving you with what Kirk calls his fruit caviar. The wine spends around 30 days on the skins extracting color and then aged 18 months in barrel. 
 
VENGE
2017 SILENCIEUX
CABERNET SAUVIGNON
NAPA VALLEY
Retails at: $60
 
Your Price: $49.99
 
“This hearty wine is blended with 4% Petit Verdot. Grippy, rich and viscous, it has intense fruit flavors of plum and cassis, with supple, integrated tannins. The whole is a testament to good grapes and great winemaking, blending together seven sites across the valley.” 94 Points
2018 Sans Liege The Offspring Proprietary Red

2018 Sans Liege The Offspring Proprietary Red

with No Comment $30 and underCentral CoastKevin VogtProprietary RedSanta BarbaraUSA

SANS LIEGE

2018 THE OFFERING
PROPRIETARY RED

2018 Sans Liege The Offspring Proprietary Red
Sans Liege The Offering is a fusion of Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvedre that was inspired by the deliciously complex wines from the Southern Rhone Valley, and crafted with the New World winemaking freedom. Each subsequent vintage develops an even more intense following, and it’s the wines’ magnetic style, with a plush mouthfeel and abundance of complexity that makes it so unforgettable. All of that combined with a retail price of under $30, and the quality is unmatched when it comes to juicy red blends. 
 
With origins from top vineyards in California’s iconic Santa Barbara County, winemaker Curt Schalchlin selects each vineyard based on flavor characteristics and distinct qualities that add layers to the diversity of the overall blend. 
 
This remarkable and highly-expressive blend spent around 16 months in barrel, and Curt made it with a technique of utilizing partial whole cluster fermentation, contributing to greater depth and structure in the wine.
 
SANS LIEGE
2018 THE OFFERING
PROPRIETARY RED
 
Your Price: $29.99
 
“The early fall breeze brushes through the orchard, bringing with it aromas of red plum, cinnamon bark, cocoa, and freshly oiled leather. The harvest table is bountiful; friends and family all gather round. Wooden bowls full of green olives and mixed berries are passed as you warm your hands on a rustic mug filled with anise black tea.”
2019 Brevity Pinot Grigio Santa Barbara County

2019 Brevity Pinot Grigio Santa Barbara County

with No Comment $30 and underKevin VogtSanta BarbaraUSA

BREVITY

2019 PINOT GRIGIO
SANTA BARBARA COUNTY

2019 Brevity Pinot Grigio Santa Barbara County
As a fan of Pinot Noir, I can’t help but admire Pinot Grigio. After all, Pinot Grigio came from a genetic mutation of the Pinot Noir grape, removing the color pigmentation and making it a grayish-blue color, rather than purple. And this didn’t just happen yesterday; Pinot Grigio has been around since the Middle Ages. It’s now the second most popular white wine grape in the US, behind Chardonnay, and it’s also found a stronghold in Northern Italy and Alsace. We don’t feature them in our emails often, but then again, we’ve never tasted one as great as this…
 
There are many different styles of Pinot Grigio, from dry and minerally, (common in Northern Italy), to sweet & fruity which is common in Alsace (and also referred to as Pinot Gris.) In the New World, Pinot Grigio is often both fruity and dry. This wine stands out for having concentrated fruit, lively acidy, brilliant details, and powerful intensity. 
 
Brevity is a brand new project made by Bobby Moy, who got his feet wet in the wine industry mentoring under Thomas Rivers Brown before launching this label. It’s farmed organically, and the grapes were whole-cluster pressed and cold fermented for 42 days, which both contributed to the concentrated fruit and bright acid. If you know anyone that loves Pinot Grigio, they should not miss this one.
 
BREVITY
2019 PINOT GRIGIO
SANTA BARBARA COUNTY
 
Your Price: $22
 
 
“The Brevity 2019 Santa Barbara County Pinot Grigio is an absolute delight to taste. This stunning wine is defined and focused on the nose with bright citrus, Spring flowers, and green apple hints. The palate is exceptionally concentrated, with intense key lime, passionfruit, and pomelo. There is a steeliness on the palate with this one combined with a very crisp acidity that keeps you coming back for more. It’s simply the best Pinot Grigio I’ve had the last few years.”  93 Points
2017 Calculated Risk Barrel Selection Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley

2017 Calculated Risk Barrel Selection Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley

with No Comment $30-$40Cabernet SauvignonCoombsvilleKevin VogtNapaSaint HelenaUSA

CALCULATED RISK

BARREL SELECTION
CABERNET SAUVIGNON 
2017 NAPA VALLEY

2017 Calculated Risk Barrel Selection Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley
Adding up the reasons why Calculated Risk offers such an extraordinary value, and the summation will point to fruit source, winemaking, and price. The fruit quality multiplies with their vast selection of premium vineyards under their brands Heir Apparent and Grand Napa Vineyards, and the winemaking gets huge scores from top publications like James Suckling and Robert Parker’s The Wine Advocate, that have featured all three brands with high ratings. It doesn’t take a calculus degree to see the no risk value in this Calculated Risk… 
 
The winemaking team selected fruit from Coombsville and St. Helena AVA’s to craft a powerful, penetrating, and balanced wine. The wine perfectly fuses the elegance and restrained power of Coombsville, with St. Helena structure and depth.
 
The 2017 Barrel Selection is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, and it lights up your senses with cocoa dusted black fruits, graphite, and crushed flowers. The 2017 vintage is rocking right now, and every time I taste it, I’m perplexed by how incalculably good it is. 
 
CALCULATED RISK
BARREL SELECTION
CABERNET SAUVIGNON 
2017 NAPA VALLEY
Retails at: $79.99
 
2016 Keever Inspirado Proprietary Red Napa Valley

2016 Keever Inspirado Proprietary Red Napa Valley

with No Comment $70-$80Kevin VogtNapaProprietary RedUSAYountville

KEEVER

2016 INSPIRADO 
PROPRIETARY RED
NAPA VALLEY 

2016 Keever Inspirado Proprietary Red Napa Valley
Keever Vineyard’s motto is that great wine should tell a story, and theirs is an inspiring tale written by a passionate family of proprietors and some of the most talented winemaking and farming in the industry. It takes place on a 6-acre rock-laden hillside Southwest of Yountville, nestled at the base of the Mayacamas Mountains where the earth has eroded from the slopes over millennia. Then add in Jim Barbour, one of the absolute top grape growers, and Celia Welch, a legendary winemaker. We’ve had the Inspirado on our best seller’s list for years, and the 2016 vintage is among their very best yet. 
 
Appropriately named Inspirado, which translates to Inspired, this release was penned with 84% Cabernet Sauvignon, and drafted with Merlot and Petite Verdot. It envelopes your taste buds with rich, scrumptious textures, and intermixed are fine details of rocky minerals, cocoa dusted black fruits, and vanilla bean. 
 
The wine was authored by Celia Welch, whom you might recognize from Scarecrow, D.R. Stephens, Barbour, Dalla Valle, and at under $100/btl, this is one of the best wines in the shop, period.
 
KEEVER
2016 INSPIRADO 
PROPRIETARY RED
NAPA VALLEY
Retails at: $80
 
Your Price: $75
 
“… It has an exotic, complex bouquet of black raspberry and cassis fruits intermixed with some forest floor, dried flowers, and cedar. This carries to a medium to full-bodied red that has sweet tannin, a rounded, approachable style, and loads to love.”  93 points
“Once in a handful of years, Mother Nature serves up a growing season in which every detail is just exactly right. A Spring full of enough rainfall but not too much, a Summer of enough heat but not too much, and an Autumn with warm days and cool nights. The 2016 Inspirado captures this season beautifully, showing warm blueberry, spiced plum, and dark cherry notes, all floating atop more subtle base notes of vanilla and toasty oak. The palate impression reflects the aromas, with ripe fruit, a touch of spice, and a finish that showcases the soft, satiny texture of this beautiful blend.”
2016 Waterfall Proprietary Red Old Vine Cabernet Franc Sonoma Valley

2016 Waterfall Proprietary Red Old Vine Cabernet Franc Sonoma Valley

with No Comment $30 and underKevin VogtProprietary RedSonomaSonoma ValleyUSA

WATERFALL 

2016 PROPRIETARY RED
(OLD VINE CABERNET FRANC)
SONOMA VALLEY

2016 Waterfall Proprietary Red Old Vine Cabernet Franc Sonoma Valley
At $23, we knew Waterfall’s 2016 Red would be an instant hit, and based on the torrent of re-orders and glowing feedback, we were right. After all, it’s made by Helen Keplinger, whom you might recognize from her work at Bryant, Carte Blanche, and Grace Family, and even at the winery retail price of $42, a wine of this caliber would make anyone do a double-take. At $23, very few can compete.
 
Waterfall’s 2016 Proprietary Red is composed of 100% Cabernet Franc, and Helen crafted it from ancient 80-year-old vines. On the palate, the wine is stunningly balanced, finely detailed, long, and expansive. 
 
This beauty comes from the incredible 2016 vintage, bringing a supple and inviting style that envelopes your palate with rich, enchanting flavors, silky tannins and perfectly ripened dark berries. At this price, you can’t have too much of this in your cellar. 
 
WATERFALL 
2016 PROPRIETARY RED
(OLD VINE CABERNET FRANC)
SONOMA VALLEY
Retails at: $42
 
Your Price: $23
 
 
“Polished textured with melted tannins. Balancing acidity with aromas of raspberry pie, blueberry and strawberry jam combined with nuances of rose petal and violets + spicy notes on the finish.”
2019 Leto Sauvignon Blanc Napa Valley

2019 Leto Sauvignon Blanc Napa Valley

with No Comment $30 and underKevin VogtNapaPope ValleySauvignon BlancUSA

LETO

SAUVIGNON BLANC
2019 NAPA VALLEY

2019 Leto Sauvignon Blanc Napa Valley
Proprietor Brad Warner proves again that he’s got a talent for identifying vineyards capable of producing powerfully compelling, memorable wines. For his 2019 Sauvignon Blanc, he discovered a vineyard in Pope Valley, a remote, high-elevation region positioned behind Howell Mountain, that falls within the greater Napa Valley Appellation. The 2019 vintage is loaded with concentrated stone fruits and is finely sculpted and full of energy. With only 115 cases made, you might want to order yours before sharing…
 
The 2019 vintage arose from a single, high-elevation site in Pope Valley, where a dramatic diurnal temperature shift helped the fruit maintain natural acidity, but gain full ripeness. 
 
Once harvested, Brad fermented the juice at cool temperatures and aged it in stainless steel tanks to preserve the freshness. On the palate, it’s pristinely focused, alluring, and full of energy, and at $22, you should grab some while you can…
 
LETO
SAUVIGNON BLANC
2019 NAPA VALLEY
 
Your Price: $22
 
 
“Pale yellow robe. The bouquet fresh, with notes of white flowers and citrus fruit. The mouth dynamic, with crisp acidity and stone fruit. A pleasant finish.”