NEW RELEASES – Just In!
Caymus 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley
$ 84.99
New release
New release of Caymus' 2018 Cabernet now available! Caymus makes one of Napa Valley's most popular Cabernet Sauvignons and the 2018 is another stellar wine.
previous vintage 94 Points Robert Parker: "The Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley has a dense opaque purple color, a kiss of blackberry and cassis fruit, a full-bodied mouthfeel with ripe tannin and a long finish. It is very Caymus in its immediate accessibility, but has plenty of staying power and depth. This is lush, full, intense and pure. Drink it over the next 15 or so years."
Caymus Vineyards produces two Cabernets Sauvignons – a “Napa Valley” and the venerable “Special Selection”. Both Cabernet bottlings have aromas and flavors which can only be achieved through “hang time” – a technique which chances the loss of crop if early winter sets in. Leaving the fruit to “hang” on the vine unusually long develops suppleness, increases color, and matures the tannins of the grapes. The wines are abundant in textural tannins yet soft as velvet. Crop thinning, allowing measured sunlight to reach the vine’s fruit zone, and waiting for increased ripeness are all part of our viticultural practices. Caymus Cabernets offer a wide array of aromas and flavors including cocoa, cassis and vanilla. The new Caymus 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley release is one of the best cabs in years!
Arbalest 2015 Red Bordeaux
$ 19.95
Best buy
From esteemed Napa Winemaker, Benoit Touquette, the 2015 Arbalest Bordeaux Rouge is one of the best buys in Red Bordeaux we've discovered! A fruit-forward wine oozing juiciness and deep, dark flavors. On the nose, the slight scent of cedar and truffle tell you it’s predominantly Merlot. Drink now through 2022.
91 points Jeb Dunnuck: "Mostly Merlot blended with 14% Cabernet Sauvignon and 4% Petit Verdot, the 2015 Arbalest was brought up 16 months in tank and 30% new oak. It offers a perfumed, gorgeous bouquet of plums, incense, spice and hints of forest floor. Full-bodied, ripe and rounded, with a sexy, opulent style, lots of mid-palate depth, and a great finish, it's well worth your time and money and is a smoking deal at 20 bucks. This wine comes from a collaboration between winemaker Benoit Touquette and importer/distributor Kimberly Jones."
Immortal Estate 2014 Slope Cabernet Sauvignon, Sonoma County
$ 74.99
97+ Points Parker
New release from the former Hidden Ridge winery re-baptised Immortal Estate! Winemaker Philippe Melka and proprietor Tim Martin, owner of Tusk Estates.
97+ Points Robert Parker: "As for the 2014s, the 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Slope from the Hidden Ridge vineyard does not suffer in comparison with the extraordinary efforts of 2013. Still a barrel sample, its riveting richness, concentration, texture and density represent another legend in the making. Crème de cassis, licorice, blackberry, earthiness and spice are all present in this magnificent example of Cabernet Sauvignon that should age beautifully for 25-30+ years...
...When I first started doing my centralized tastings of the many wineries that I could not possibly have time to visit, one of the remarkable standouts for Cabernet Sauvignon was Hidden Ridge. These are clearly world-class Cabernet Sauvignons and should be considered by any serious collector for their cellars."
Legit 2013 Tolaini Cabernet Sauvignon, Tuscany
$ 34.99 $ 45.00
94 pts
94 Points Wine Spectator (#26 Wine of 2019): "This is broad and incisive, delivering black currant, plum, leather, earth and wild herb flavors. Dense and beefy, yet with ample fruit for balance, driven by vibrant acidity. This is starting to mellow but still has years of life ahead. Drink now through 2036."
LEGIT is wine of power and finesse, an organically farmed Cabernet Sauvignon made from hand-picked grapes from prized San Giovanni Vineyard in the heart of Castelnuovo Berardenga. Here the gentle sloping Tuscan vineyard and its gnarled vines mimic the angular melodies and dissonant twists of Monk's great masterpieces. "A wine born of soul and depth", a harmonius and unlikely marriage of American Jazz and Italian tradition that is as perfectly irreverent, as stylishly 'LEGIT' as the Artist who inspired it.
The wine has a deep ruby red color. The nose displays hints of green pepper, licorice and graphite melted with oak vanilla flavors. Full bodied with a ripe fruit palate, LEGIT has the potential to age for a long period of time, which is typical of the Cabernet Sauvignon produced in the Castelnuovo Berardenga Area."
Featured Wines
Hestan 2014 "Stephanie" Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley
$ 49.99
★ 95 Points
A blockbuster new Cabernet blend from Hestan Vineyards. Usually only available to mailing list members we have a small amount of this tiny production Cabernet while our allocation lasts!
Brix26 Inside Scoop: "Stephanie Cabernet comes from relative Napa Valley newcomer Hestan Vineyards, who are turning out some great high-end wines. The Stephanie Cabernet has quietly become one of our top-selling Cabernets over the last 3 vintages for good reason: its got all the hallmarks of a "classic" California Cabernet: plenty of rich berry fruit and that dusty tannin; not a wimpy Cab and not a giant fruit bomb. If you're a Cab-lover, Stephanie should be next on your wish list. Every time a customer calls and asks what new Cabernet we recommend, we'll send them Stephanie and 9 times out of ten they reorder a case!"
CADE 2017 Estate Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley
$ 109.95
97 Points - limited
CADE is Plumpjack's hot new winery on Howell Mountain. Limited.
96 Points Jeb Dunnuck: "Coming from estate fruit on Howell Mountain and made from 88% Cabernet Sauvignon and 4% each of Malbec, Petit Verdot, and Merlot, the 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate offers a darker, more mineral-driven style compared to the Napa release. It has beautiful blackcurrant, cassis, forest floor, graphite, and tobacco leaf-like aromas and flavors. Deep, full-bodied, beautifully polished and elegant, it's another remarkable effort from this team. As Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon goes, it's a brilliant value!"
94 points Robert Parker: "The 2017 Cade Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, blended with 4% Malbec, 4% Petit Verdot and 4% Merlot, is deep garnet-purple colored and a little closed, slowly giving up warm cassis, blackberry tart and mulberries with touches of spice box, pencil shavings and Marmite toast. The full-bodied palate is firm, grainy and muscular with an earthy expression and just enough freshness, finishing on a lingering mineral note."
Brix26 Inside Scoop: PlumpJack's new winery, Cade, is up on Napa Valley's Howell Mountain and is turning out some fantastricly rich mountain Cabernets. On your next visit to the Napa Valley we recommend a visit to taste their wines from the stunning views at the winery.
Almaviva 2017 Proprietary Red, Puente Alto Chile
$ 159.99
100 Points - limited
One of Chile's finest wines, the Almaviva is a delicious Cabernet blend.
Almaviva is a joint venture between Concha Y Toro and the Rothschild family, begun in 1998. Like her father before her saw in the Opus One project, Baroness Philippine de Rothschild saw the potential to create a world-class claret from these own-rooted, 37 year old vines on purely alluvial soils high in the “Puente Alto” zone of the Maipo Valley.
100 Points James Suckling: "The aromas of blackberry leaves and iodine are wild and exotic here with mussel shells and earth underneath. Full-bodied, tight and chewy with powerful tannins that show muscle. It’s structured and powerful. Dense and very, very deep. Don’t touch this until 2025."
Domaine Lafage 2016 "Bastide Miraflors" Cotes du Rousillon
$ 14.99
94 pts - best buy
One of the Best Buys of the year from France! A fantastic value.
94 Points Jeb Dunnuck: "A wine that almost always over-delivers, the 2016 Côtes du Roussillon Bastide Miraflors is, I suspect, the finest vintage for this cuvée to date (it’s in the same league as the off-the-charts 2015). A blend of 80% Syrah and 20% Grenache from Lesquerde and Saint Martin de Fenouillet (both in the northern part of the Roussillon), aged all in older barrels and concrete tanks, it boasts rockstar notes of ripe blackberry fruits, spice, dried garrigue, and hints of chocolate. Possessing a full-bodied, layered mouthfeel, sweet tannins, and sensational purity, it’s another one of those values that almost seems too good to be true. Drink it any time over the coming 3-4 years."
“A steal from Lafage is the Bastide Miraflors...This is one to buy by the case.”
-- Robert Parker
Jean-Marc Lafage has knocked it out of the park once again with this high-quality, low-cost stunner of a wine. Domaine Lafage is housed in their facility just outside the city of Perpignan. One of the most advanced wineries in the region, Jean-Marc and his wife Elaine are crafting "must buy" wines from the region of Roussillon. The Bastide Miraflors is a blend of Syrah and old-vine Grenache. The vineyards for this wine are practicing organic with an average vine age of 55 years. The last three years, this has been one of our ten best sellers of the year. We expect no less again.
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