If big, bad, coat your molars, rock and roller Cabernet is your jam, today’s wine will absolutely rock your face clean off. The quality, the price, the pedigree… all “al bacio” (that thing Italian chefs do when they kiss their fingers).

• Big score? You betcha!
• Superstar winemaker? Kirk Venge effortlessly checks that box.

Let’s start with the vineyard. Bred from the legendary Stagecoach Vineyard at 1,200 feet up on the precious Pritchard Hill - Atlas Peak corridor. A location worthy of California Grand Cru status without a doubt. A coveted vineyard that powers some of Napa’s most profound wines for its long-time custodian Krupp Brothers, Quintessa, PlumpJack, Chateau Montelena, Paul Hobbs, along with many others who enhance their blends with this ‘secret weapon’ source.

In fact, a Wine Spectator spotlight not too long ago disclosed that, “Stagecoach sits in a popular area, near well-known names like Bryant Family Vineyard and Dalla Valle. Krupp sells fruit to more than 90 wineries, including Alpha Omega, Caymus, Duckhorn and Pahlmeyer.”

And the winemaker - Kirk Venge!! How many 94-100 point wines has he made?? We can’t count that high. All we know is he’s a Cabernet wizard, the guy you call to extract a super-dense core of flavor from your prized grapes. Like that endless silk handkerchief trick, he somehow teases an Amazonian expanse of rich fruit and dense flavor that builds upwards into a skyscraper-like structure.

Moving onto the wine which has all that strength and power on full display, including the deep black inky core gradating towards a vivid ruby slither of a rim. Ultra-rich, ripe, and teeth-staining with buckets of blue, and black fruit. Blueberry pie, crust and all, with blackberry jam, licorice, and plenty of those secondary nuances that stitch together a tapestry of complexity. Pencil shavings, cedar, graphite, and herbs. With some bottle age the tannins have resolved into smooth, soft, and buttery little things that carry into a lonnnnng finish. Drinking absolutely prime right now, it surely has a long life ahead of it.

Speaking of prime, a thick slice of prime rib, creamy horseradish, twice-baked potatoes, or even better - lookup Gordon Ramsay’s Yorkshire pudding, and this. Ooh and aah… like that sweet finding a hundred bucks cash on a walk feel, hint, hint!

Final verdict: a straight-up wicked awesome, collectible grade gem right here. If you can put just one bottle into your Locker, we urge you to do so. It will make you very, very happy.

94 Points – Wine Enthusiast

“Juicy and impressively structured, this wine hits all the right notes in its complex grasp of blueberry cobbler and graham cracker richness. The denser aspects are skillfully complemented with a length and breadth of additional elements like clove, cedar, sage and graphite, the tannins appropriately robust.”