Today’s WIA is Appellation of the Year - Red Hills of Lake County

Sure, as the sun rises and 2+2 = 4, we know Hawk and Horse will ALWAYS be a favorite around here, and who else but them to stress that Red Hills may be Napa’s worst nightmare, delivering superb appeal at a fraction of their costs.

This wine has shattered records over the years, being our unbeatable single best-selling Cabernet since 2007… and the latest vintage is no less a staggering value. Always a best-in-class, while this might be the ‘bestest’ one yet with a monocle-popping 61% OFF. That 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, let’s start with the winemaker - Dr. Richard Peterson.

Who hasn’t 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. That’s not all. Richard also took André Tchelistcheff’s 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 “The Winemaker.”

Second, we have the Red Hills, an insiders’ appellation named after its red volcanic soils. Just north of Napa, in Lake County - about ten miles from Howell Mountain, in fact. Here you’ll find some exceedingly high-quality Cabernet without the “Napa tax”. There’s a good reason why visionaries like Fred Schrader, Stéphane Derenoncourt, and Andy Beckstoffer have been quietly investing in land here. This gem comes from a small 18-acre Demeter Certified Biodynamic® Vineyard perched at 2,200 feet elevation.

Anyways, about this vintage. Deep and concentrated with ripe fruit, it’s 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. It’s 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 wouldn’t recommend waiting a few hours even, given it’s our most popular winery EVER!

92 Points – Wine Enthusiast

“Beautiful, 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.”