Happy Super Bowl Sunday! Who you got??

We’re all winning today because here we have a beauty for all you collectors. Or any Napa Cab lover really. A peak “locals only” type discovery. Perfectly aged Napa Cabernet plucked straight from the dusty cellar. A deal that defies all explanations of inflation, priceonomics, and plain old common sense.

Back in 2006 Apple stock was $2.60. Barry Bonds was crushing his 715th home run. And another excellent vintage in Napa Valley was underway. Now defunct, a tiny boutique operation called Spiridon Winery was making just about a hundred cases of wine annually, and today we have a small portion straight from their library. And while the release price was $60 back then, we have it for less than half that.

It took a ton of spy work to get as much info on Spiridon as we possibly could. We challenge our dear Operatives to find out more! Basically, a local artisanal craftsman, Greek immigrant, wine aficionado Spiridon ‘Spiro’ Dalageorgas could not live another day into his retirement without seeing his name on a wine label. His close friend, the late Art Finkelstein of Judd’s Hill opened his heart and his doors, to take the Spiridon project under his wings and gift Spiro with his signature winemaking style.

For them, 2005 was the first ‘warm up’ harvest to learn all he could with just a few barrels, and in 2006 the stars were aligned, when they got access to venture outside of Spiro’s tiny Yountville vineyard, and work with fruit from Foley-Johnson up in Rutherford for the bass notes of this outstanding Cab. In 2010 Art passed away, so within just a couple of harvests, Spiridon quietly took its place in the pages of history. To this date, we did not even know it existed!

This is a striking example of the staying power of Napa Cabernet. It still has a juicy core of ripe fruit but with waves of secondary nuances shining through. Heck, the color looks as vibrant as one would expect if it were a 2016! Aromatically speaking we’re getting black plum, Bing cherry, cedar, and spice, along with nuances of sweet tobacco, crushed lavender, a hint of eucalyptus, and a dusting of cocoa chime in on the silky-smooth palate too. The finish is seamless yet seriously endowed, in stark contrast with the insane price we’re giving this one away at today.

If you’ve never enjoyed the complexity of an impeccably aged Napa Cab, well today is your chance…

Just a measly 4 barrels were made, plus friends and family had long enjoyed the better half by the time we unearthed this treasure, so once gone, it’s gone for good.