The lore runs DEEP with Block Three.

The 2019 and 2020 vintages scored big. And the 2021 hit new heights with 96 points. Back then, we said wow and seized every bottle they had.

This. The 2023 vintage? What Decanter said about “the vintage of a lifetime” not only to Napa but to Lake County too, just to the north, minus the Napa tax, which means 3-4x for the same quality.

Once again pushing higher up and laying down 97 BIG ONES from The Tasting Panel. With its “mesmerizing finish” and “velvet carpet mouthfeel,” sweet-talking you, it’s no wonder. And then you see the price. $36 American dollars?! That should pin you into submission.

If not, I guess you gotta ask yourself - can I afford NOT to get some?

I know, I KNOW Alan! We know what you’re thinking! You’re asking yourself, “Can I just hold off a little longer? My cellar is already full. It IS summer. I don’t need more wine.”

That’s loser talk, Alan, Tom, Michelle! And loser talk is a slippery slope, Operatives.

First, it’s “my cellar is full.” Then you’re at a backyard barbecue holding a lukewarm mango-passionfruit seltzer, telling people it’s “actually super really refreshing.”

You don’t come back from that.

But you do come back to this. Over and over again. Hawk and Horse is, by now, like the Beatles around here. Everybody’s got a favorite. But we can all agree this is their “A Day in the Life.” The greatest of all time. Don’t believe us? Let their highest ever score decide.

And if Paul is the best songwriter, then Dr. Richard Peterson is the best winemaker in this equation. The double OG Screaming Eagle winemaker. The legendary Tchelistcheff appointed Peterson to take over as the winemaker at Napa Valley’s Beaulieu Vineyard in 1968. He’s forgotten more about elite winemaking than most winemakers know. The guy even invented the pallet rack!

Yes, Heidi’s dad, Chelsea’s grandpa, inventor of the “bung n roll” method, the steel pallet rack, and the original cult wine of CA is still at it, making some absolutely phenomenal wines this very day. And this is one of his best. You don’t want a “hint” of flavor. What you want is a big ol’ wallop of fruit rushing in your mouth with the smooth caress of buttery soft tannins. A chaotic explosion of chocolate-cherry-umami-violet complexity that makes a “hint” shirk in embarrassment.

And you want it for about the price of a few gallons of gas these days; it’s bound to get you further.

97 Points – The Tasting Panel “With 10% Cabernet Franc and 5% Petit Verdot, this pin-pointed site sits on rocky, volcanic soils at an elevation of 2,200 feet. With a foundation of graphite, dried violets, and dark chocolate-covered blackberries, is a stunning velvet carpet mouthfeel. Chewy tannins connect with a mesmerizing finish of leather and rich blue fruit.”