“this may be the rare affordable bottling from Pritchard Hill” - Wine Advocate

GANNNDONNNAAAA! Sounds like something you’d yell accompanied by an alpenhorn - ricola style.

One of the hottest new projects is back. And this time, it’s even better. Better vintage. Better price. And it’s only a matter of minutes or hours before every bottle is gone.

The price?! $85 off the $130 release price. Or in other words, WAY OVER 60% off from us. So if WA called this a “rare affordable bottling” from Pritchard Hill at the release price, you have to wonder what they’d say seeing it for our price today.

A quick search in the Operative Hangout shows heaps of love for the previous vintage. It showed up on many Op’s “best of” lists, and elicited heaps of love like “Great bottle. Bought 3. Wish I bought more.” and praised as “very much the Melka style”.

Very much Melka, indeed. Except you often pay $100, $200, or much more to get a taste of his handiwork.

Perched way above the valley floor overlooking Lake Hennessey you’ll find Gandona Estate. Tucked between Colgin and Bryant family, and not far from Chappellet, this relatively new winery has been making serious moves and pulling out all the stops as they punch their way to the top.

Gandona is the vision of Manuel Pires come to life. He grew up on his grandfather’s land in Douro, Portugal and always wanted to return to those farming roots. With a fortune made in the electronic key control business he set to work purchasing an estate on Pritchard Hill. The name “Gandona” is Portuguese for “hillside”. He planted 12 blocks of vines on the steep terrain. Then he got 100-point winemaker Phillipe Melka to make the wine. No expense was spared - from the excavated caves to the barrel program.

Encosta (meaning “beginning” in Portuguese) is their entry level wine, but it’s anything but basic. Meant to be enjoyed early, it boasts ripe and forward fruits, with minerality, spices and a general sophistication. Ripe blueberries, brambly blackberries, sweet violets up front with snappy black licorice, toasty spices, and cedar lingering out back. Chewy, dusty tannins and a fairly nice acidity add to the equation, and the sum equals one fantastic Cabernet.

93 points - Wine Advocate - “Gandona’s 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Encosta features scents of crushed stone and pencil shavings layered atop ripe plums and black cherries. While it’s full-bodied, with some grainy tannins, it’s not unapproachable, with a long, dusty-textured finish. For those keeping track of the minutia, it was aged in two-thirds new French oak and there’s a tiny proportion (less than 2% in aggregate) of other grape varieties: Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc and Merlot. Previous vintages are still on the market for around $100, so this may be the rare affordable bottling from Pritchard Hill (1,050 cases produced).”