WIA awards coming in hot!! It’s that time of year where we bust out the best, most popular, most re-requested wines of the year.

Only one month ago we shattered sales records with this wine. Today, we’re back for more. If you’re among the five Operatives who missed it the first time around, here’s your chance. If you already got some but want more of this blue chip Napa superstar, go for it.

Chimney Rock is back in the house! With a 94 POINT mega-hot, HALF-PRICED, won’t-find-it-anywhere-else deal on their “Elevage” blend straight out of Stags Leap District. A wine Jeb Dunnuck called “beautifully balanced and impeccably made” and a surefire crowd-pleasing stunner.

And the best part - the price. Not $110. Not $75. Not even $60 anymore…the price is right, at $55. Who loves ya?

Chimney Rock is a stalwart in Napa’s Cabernet scene, a fixture on the Silverado Trail, and well known for their precise, powerful, and expressive wines. Elizabeth Vianna has been making these wines since 2005 and has the process down. But she got her start at Napa Wine Company, a custom crush facility that spawned more than a few famous labels. That’s where she was exposed to Heidi Barrett, Pam Starr and Celia Welch among others. And when Heidi Barret calls you over to help with tasting and blending, well, you take notes.

Vinous’ Antonio Galloni saw it coming in 2014; “I was deeply impressed with these new and upcoming releases from Chimney Rock and winemaker Elizabeth Vianna. The Chimney Rock Cabernets exhibit wonderful character, complexity and nuance, with plenty of immediacy, but also the stuffing to age.” adding a year later that “Vianna’s 2014s are bold, powerful wines.”

So. This wine. This one has it all - a velvety smooth, supple, and rich, friendly little fruit bomb dialed up to 10 on all sides. Quite lush, yes, but not completely over the top either. It’s a seductive blend that’s brimming with decadently concentrated red and purple fruit, sweet oak, and savory spices. Red cherries, cassis, plum, pencil lead. Nearly impossible to find fault with even for the pickiest of drinkers.

What Jeb said, “It’s beautifully done, and the purity of fruit is exceptional.”

The Holidays are here. You deserve it. Treat yourself to an early present. You won’t regret it.

94 Points – Jeb Dunnuck

“The 2014 Elevage checks in as a blend of 53% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot, 12% Petit Verdot, and the rest Cabernet Franc, all from the Stags Leap region of the valley, that spent 18 months all in new French oak. As with all these cuvees, it’s beautifully balanced and impeccably made. Cassis, spice-box, crushed rocks, and hints of graphite all emerge from this silky, medium to full-bodied red that has the depth and structure to warrant another 2-4 years of bottle age. It’s beautifully done, and the purity of fruit is exceptional. Drink 2016-2031.”