We’re back, CLASSIFIED!

It’s the only way they let us give you over HALF OFF a wine that does not need that break to sell.

For reasons that will soon become clear, these wines can be so good, so scarce, or so exclusive that they must hide behind a closely guarded veil of secrecy.

You rarely, if ever, see these bottles at a discount. And because some wineries are very price-sensitive, their mailing list members would go ballistic seeing a deep deal on it.

Unless…

We go full redaction – CLASSIFIED – über-top-secret black ops mission style.

Revealing the name would put our livelihood at stake. Our industry is built on relationships and not wanting to ruffle feathers; sometimes, it’s a necessary precaution to redact some of the information.

HOWEVER, we can drop a couple of major clues, and the savviest of you may figure it out. In fact, even the least savvy of you will probably figure this one out…we’re making it easy today.

The first one is big… Howell Mountain! And not just any wine from up there near the clouds, this has been an iconic label amongst the elite of Napa Valley for almost half a century. Can see your grin when you get it in your hands…

Next clue, it has at least FIVE 97-98 point scores that we could count. Superlatives include “incredibly concentrated… insanely impressive” and “world-class” for a mountain Cabernet that’s “completely packed with black fruit layers supported by very firm yet ripe grainy tannins,” all while “for all the fruit density here, there is a balance of freshness that is almost hard to imagine,” wrapping things up with “a complex and gorgeously flavored finish.”

Oh, and one last clue of sorts, we’ve only seen this name on Wine Spies once before, and that was not too long ago. These wines are hard to get, especially at a price so low. Don’t ask who the winemaker is, or who the neighbors are, or we’ll be in BIG TROUBLE. You want us back tomorrow, right?!

Did we say the prices are all in the $100-250 range, every which way you look? Still stumped? Head over to the Facebook group and check out the latest posts - crowdsource the answer…

A good Operative always makes sure they bought enough first though.