We honor one of our favorite legacy winemakers with a WIA today: Dave Mahaffey!

42 years of winemaking, and sadly he’s now retired, so this is his LAST Palladian!

And four years for us!! The last Palladian we offered was the 2014 vintage and that was on April 14, 2020.

This has to be one of their best-ever from the extraordinary 2018 vintage. It’s a truly compelling value. Especially compared to many other Reserve Napa Cabs costing 2-4x more. Palladian has always been modestly priced, yet today we have it for an old-school cool, rewind the clock to $49.

And the neighborhood? Jones Family bought a prime spot of land in St. Helena in 1980. Right next to Meadowood Country Club, and across from Bill Harlan’s Napa Reserve! Actually, they sell some of their fruit to the Napa Reserve to help power those $400+ Cabernets. Other neighbors include Alejandro Bulgheroni Estate and D.R. Stephens Moose Valley Vineyard. Those fetch $170-$300+ all day every day.

We’re trying to frame the extreme value Palladian represents among a sea of much, MUCH more expensive choices.

After securing a winery license in 2002 Palladian was officially born. They brought Dave Mahaffey to be the winemaker. He’s tasked with making just ONE wine each year, a Cabernet Sauvignon and he’s done this for 18+ years. He tends to the three acres of vines by hand and believes in strict organic farming and low-intervention winemaking techniques. It spent 24 months in French oak before resting for another three full years in the bottle - much longer than the typical Napa Cab.

Anyways, the wine - medium weight and packed with juicy red fruits, raspberry, and red cherry, a hint of cedar and tobacco, and a dusting of dark cocoa powder, too. It has all the lush, ripe California fruit you hope for, with an intense minerality, and a long finish.

One of Dave’s favorite books/movies is ‘Hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy’ so this year was special for that specific reference: “The Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything is 42”. His best effort ever? Quite possibly yes.

Only a few hundred cases are made each year and not much remains for this LAST CALL. You’ll be among the few in the country to have it.