Mission Codename The Call of the Wild
The Hawk is in the air and the Horse cometh galloping back! This wine has shattered records over the years, as our unbeatable single best-selling Cabernet since 2007âŠ
This latest vintage is no less a staggering value. Heck, this might be the bestest one yet with a monocle-dropping bargain - 61% OFF takes it from $75 to $29. But the quality is where it shines!
This very wine was featured in this recent Robb Report article lining the best Fall red wines up. And our price makes it by FAR the most dumbfounding deal on that list.
The seasoned Operatives out there can skip the next few paragraphs, but for the newbies around here, letâs start with the winemaker - Dr. Richard Peterson.
Who hasnât heard of Screaming Eagle and Heidi Barrett? Get this - before Heidi came on board it was Dr. Peterson who led the first four vintages of Screaming Eagle into cult stardom. Then his daughter - Heidi Barrett took over. Thatâs not all. Richard also took AndrĂ© Tchelistcheffâs post at BV, helped develop Atlas Peak Vineyards, and he presides over numerous institutions including the American Society for Enology & Viticulture, The Wine Institute, Society of Wine Educators and American Institute for Wine and Food.
Like the man wrote THE BOOK, literally, an award-winning autobiography called âThe Winemaker.â
Second, we have the Red Hills, an insidersâ appellation named after its red volcanic soils. Just north of Napa, in Lake County - about ten miles from Howell Mountain, in fact. Here youâll find some exceedingly high-quality Cabernet without the âNapa taxâ. Thereâs a good reason why visionaries like Fred Schrader, StĂ©phane Derenoncourt, and Andy Beckstoffer have been quietly investing in land here. This gem comes from a small 18-acre Demeter Certified BiodynamicÂź Vineyard perched at 2,200 feet elevation.
Anyways, about this vintage. Deep and concentrated with ripe fruit, itâs dark purple in the glass and pumped full of black currants, dark cherries, and plums. Black pepper, bittersweet chocolate, savory baking spices, and spicy, toasty oak fill in the gaps and round out the complexity. Itâs still young, with firm tannins, and ample acidity, and if you can wait a few years, it will only improve.
As in wait a few years ONCE you grab what you need, we wouldnât recommend waiting a few hours even, given itâs our most popular winery EVER!
92 Points â Wine Enthusiast
âBeautiful, concentrated black-fruit flavors and great structure give this full-bodied wine so much to like. Fine-grained tannins support rich black-cherry and black-currant flavors, while accents of mint and dark chocolate add to its complexity. Best through 2030.â
What the Winery Says
2019 Red Hills Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
- Consulting Winemaker
- Dr. Richard Peterson
- Varieties
- 98% Cabernet Sauvignon, 2% Petite Verdot
- Vintage
- 2019
- Alcohol
- 14.3%
- Appellation
- Red Hills, Lake County
- Vineyard
- 100% Hawk and Horse Estate
- Soils
- Cortina (gravel), bale loam (sand), Pleasanton loam (clay)
- pH
- 3.55
- Aging
- 19 months
- Barrels
- 100% French oak