JUDD’S HILL!

Not one. Or two. Or three. But FOUR epic scores from this historic producer. This, our final one for the day, is my personal favorite of the bunch.

At around $95-$115 these sit alongside the very best Napa can offer. You would not be sad when this juice hits your lips. Even if you paid full price, plus tax, shipping, and a flight out to Napa to score some from the winery.

However, for under $40 it feels almost criminal to let them into the wild.

They shame anything in their path at that price. And stand up to most anything in the upper echelon of high-scoring, triple-digit Napa reds.

At this price, you’re drinking like a local. Like a friend of the winery. A family member. Heck, I don’t know if even close friends and family can get a sniff of these wines at our price.

The 35th Anniversary Historical Vineyard Cabernet Blend came and went. The 2019 Extended Barrel Age Cabernet Sauvignon and 2017 Founder’s Art Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon sailed into the night. But this, 2017 Napa Valley Estate Cabernet Sauvignon for your late afternoon and evening pursuit.

With only 3,000 cases annual production this small family-run estate has little to go around, and we cherry picked some of the most prime lots from the samples that came our way.

Each one is special. The Finkelstein family has been growing grapes on the hillside vineyards of their 14-acre estate on the eastern edge of Napa since the 1970s. Their wines are ingrained in the DNA that makes Napa Valley Cabernet what it is today.

Their first release came in 1989, and this Estate Cab was my favorite by a narrow margin of the bunch. Compared to others it had a little more “finesse” (less extraction) and showed this crazy “electric red fruit” character that I love in Cabernet. Very similar to the Cervantes if you had that one. It’s mellowed with some age but retains all the fruit you can hope for with loads of red cherries, creme de cassis, blackberry, and red currant. Brighter acidity than the rest gives it a bit of lift, and the aromatics were fabulous. Spectacular stuff.

And this is just one of four selections that each show similar, yet distinct styles. Like Pokemon, you gotta collect them all! But do it fast because deals like this come with a Charizard-like elusiveness…