Jesse Katz is making “some of the best Cabernets coming out of Sonoma County today.” If you know, you know.

If not, you’ll understand after a few sips of this beauty. We call this CORE MEMORY wine.

Our mind reels at the opportunity to showcase a wine from ‘rising star’ winemaker - Jesse Katz! The man is on FIRE lately, from putting out his insanely popular Devil Proof, to Aperture, and a best-kept secret: Sei Querce.

Wine Advocate sets the record regarding the Katz touch: “Across the board, the wines are intensely scented, layered and texturally stunning and represent some of the best Cabernets coming out of Sonoma County today.” Everything he touches seems to have this next-level sophistication and jaw-dropping style. Like this 96-pointer we somehow managed to get under 50 bucks.

Amazing to have this at all - let alone at a discount.

Sei Querce means ‘six oaks’, referring to the tall trees scattered across the 60 acres of vineyards in the Mayacamas. They’re obsessed with land stewardship here, farming organically and using restorative practices to reverse prior generations of damage. For years they sold fruit to premier wineries in Napa and Sonoma, until they started keeping the very best lots to make small amounts of their own.

“Our fruit speaks for itself” they explain, adding that “you will find it in bottles from Aperture, Silver Oak, Lambert Bridge, Jordan, Fisher, Coppola and Duckhorn often at triple-digit prices.”

The balance of power and elegance is staggering. There really is a “brilliant balance of phenological ripeness, texture, sugar, acid and flavor” as described on their website. The mouthfeel - river rock smooth. Soft, expansive, in a word, sensuous. In the glass, it’s percolating with gorgeous deep red fruits, vanilla and raspberry crème, morello cherries, red plums, and boysenberry. A hint of green pepper and razor-thin leather, marzipan, and sweet baking spices mingle around the edge. Prominent tannins are of the remarkably silky, “melted” kind, and the finish just doesn’t quit.

Seriously though, we got a few cases of this to share with lucky Operatives. You’ve got to try it.

Oh, and guess who made the most expensive bottle ever auctioned? Yup, you guessed it! New York Post reported: “the world most expensive bottle of wine sold on November 6, 2021 for a whopping $1 million at a charity auction in New Orleans; ‘It is such an honor to have set the world record for most expensive single bottle of wine ever sold and raise $1 million for a cause that is so close to my heart,’ the winemaker said. ‘I’m still pinching myself.’”

So are we… for being able to get this deal on another Jesse Katz Cab here.

First come, first served!

96 Points – Somm Journal

“Simply luxurious, with the perfume and texture of dried violets and plum—that Alexander Valley coat of silkiness achieved only by the best of the best in this AVA. Vivid acidity and mild tannins, with an emphasis on structure and pure pleasure.”