Collectors! Connoisseurs!

All lovers of ultra-premium Napa Cab.

Anyone who needs a sturdy 10lb bottle to get some weight training in while pouring their wines?

We got you. 95 points. “There are Rutherford wines at two-three times the price of this that don’t feel as rooted in the vineyard they came from,” says Decanter picking it as one of their “Best Rutherford Wines of 2018.”

Nailed it. Mind you, that’s relative to the $155 release price. Single vineyard Rutherford Cabernet simply doesn’t get more “Rutherford” than a Morisoli, whose neighbors include Scarecrow, Inglenook, and Joseph Phelps. The sense of place is extraordinary. But it does get a lot more expensive. Similarly styled, highborn Rutherford Cabs like this would set you back $150-200. Just take a look at Amici, Myriad, Hunnicutt, Greer, and HALL. And truthfully, this is worth every one of the $155 retail dollarbucks upon release.

But at $55 from us?! It’s an absolute steal.

What else would you expect from JOEL AIKEN! A man at the top of his class among an elite list of winemakers in Napa. For 30 years he’s been immersed in the Napa winemaking scene. Including 27 years overseeing winemaking at Beaulieu Vineyard where he produced some of the finest Georges de Latour Reserves. After all, Aiken is a founding member of the Rutherford Dust Society, one could argue nobody knows the AVA better than him.

After a long tenure at BV, he left in 2009 to start his own project, Aiken. Through some of those close ties to vineyards, he sourced.

First of all, this bottle weighs about ten pounds. No joke. Up there with Shafer’s Hillside Select (hint, if you haven’t already, you need to download our App before Friday, end hint.) A case of this stuff would surely tip over the 50lb limit of carry-on luggage.

The bottle weight hints at what’s inside. A brute force, Bruce Banner kind of Cabernet - suave, complex, and deeply sophisticated but ready to ground and pound weaker Cabs into oblivion.

It’s a powerhouse, to be sure. With style and balance. Brimming with black fruit galore, hints of tar, dusty black plums, black forest cake, cardamom, torrefaction, cedar and roasted violets. So much going on here.

You just can’t go wrong here. If you get some, congratulations in advance.

95 Points – The Tasting Panel

“Tarry and chewy, the sensation of a dusted book cover and plum skins represents an iconic Rutherford mouthfeel. This is a bold, adventurous red, aged 22 months in 70% new French oak with an ABV of 14.8 percent. Firm tannins take hold, but the palate remains round, its no-edge seamlessness translating as pure pleasure.”

94 Points – Decanter

“Best Rutherford Wines of 2018: Pine needles, charcoal embers and cracked black pepper aromas. As with the Sage Ridge Cabernet, this achieves a modern-Napa opulence without losing sight of authenticity and typicity. There are Rutherford wines at two-three times the price of this that don’t feel as rooted in the vineyard they came from, making this a relative value. Drink 2022-2040.”