“This is the kind of wine that will make you excited to age your own favorite bottles of Cabernet, assuming, of course, they are made this well.” – Decanter

You want a benchmark to measure your 10+ year Cabs against? Well, it’s rated 96 points and in “exceptional condition” as the review also noted. It retails for a modest $65. Today? The dollars are falling off, and it’s a scantily clad $29.

Often, when you taste something like this, the first thought is “WHO made this?!”. Surely no tenderfoot winemaker…and this sure has cachet. A lot of it. Making the price even more unbelievable.

Enter winemaker Alison Green Doran. Her dad bought Simi in 1969. She worked her first harvests there under the great André Tchelistcheff. That was the warm-up.

After UC Davis, she went to Firestone Vineyard, a Santa Ynez institution, and made their wines from 1981 to 2000. Then, as she told Wine Business Monthly, she “needed to return to Sonoma County to help my parents, who were in their late 70s. I decided to work as a consulting winemaker so I would have enough time for my family, and my first client was Lewis Cellars. After that, I picked up Levendi Winery, Crane Family, Hill Family Estate in 2002, and then John Anthony and Romeo Vineyards, as well as Jade Mountain.

52 harvests. Gulp. LEGEND. Here’s the thing. She sat at our table and poured a vertical of this wine back to 2007. The humblest cult winemaker HQ has ever hosted. Not one bottle in that lineup we wouldn’t open tonight.

Miscela means blend in Italian. Cab and Cab Franc make up nearly 2/3. Merlot, Petit Verdot, and Malbec round out a perfect Meritage. Like a Quintessa. Insignia, or Opus One. This costs a fraction of those.

The 2015 hit the sweet spot. Great winemakers shine when the ground cooperates. 80 acres in the heart of Calistoga with Sterling, Barlow, Frank Family, and Larkmead as neighbors. Silverado Trail to the east, Highway 29 to the west. Estate grapes from one of Napa’s most heralded appellations, and nobody else gets them.

Big, ripe, and expansive. Blackberry, raspberry, and blueberry, with dried herbs, cigar box, and cedar underneath. Supple and graceful, with a burst of flavor at the end and a long, super-complex finish.

So why haven’t you heard of it? The family runs other businesses first. The wines have flown under the radar for years. Press coverage is scant, apart from the review below, and that’s an understatement.

These wines are waiting to be discovered. You should not wait. $29, 55% off.

96 Points – Decanter “This 2015, tasted in late 2026, is in exceptional condition, bursting dark loamy earth notes, black currant and black cherry fruit with spiced plum fruits, warm baking spices, salted dark chocolate notes, graphite, and fabulous, supple textures, perfectly resolved tannins, and great length and mineral-driven on the full-bodied finish. This is the kind of wine that will make you excited to age your own favorite bottles of Cabernet, assuming, of course, they are made this well. These wines are crafted by Alison Green Doran, from estate fruit grown in Calistoga.”