Believe me, if we could, there’d be a Gap’s Crown Pinot featured here every month.

Yet we’ve only been able to score a couple ever, a few cases by Kosta Browne last year and about 20 cases of Wind Gap a couple of years before that. Needless to say, both went FAST… The problem is pricing. Most approaches, some exceed $100 a bottle from this famous ’Grand Cru’ site.

So today is a FIRST. How we talked our dear friends at Furthermore into a 45% off a 96-pointer Gap’s Crown deal will remain a deep dark secret story of vinous espionage. What matters is here and NOW. A couple of months ago they trusted us with a Freeman Estate Yu-ki Pinot, but this is ANOTHER LEVEL. Because the Gap has only one Crown.

San Francisco Chronicle explains that “An AVA can provide an identity for individual wineries… It can also provide credibility to lesser-known vineyards. An under-the-radar enterprise gets a big boost from associating with world-famous Gap’s Crown.”

According to Antonio Galloni’s Vinous Ross Cobb makes “some of the most beguiling, transparent Pinots in all of California” - TRUTH! And Cobb finished this beauty. The truth lies in the glass…

A supple, graceful style builds depth and intensity, with ripe, plump black cherries, plums, and blueberries. Full-bodied, gaining depth and nuance while it manages to stay elegant and delicate. A classically styled wine that builds gracefully on a juicy, vivid, layered finish that echoes raspberry, cherry, and floral scents. Deep, complex, and focused, it’s quintessentially Gap’s Crown, destined to blow Pinot lovers’ minds.

If you’re still on the fence, these Wine Spectator excerpts may help convince you why this vineyard is nearly impossible to see again at this killer price: “Gap’s Crown, a Sonoma Coast vineyard that supplies Pinot Noir to top producers like Kosta Browne, Patz & Hall, and MacPhail has been purchased by Bill Price (who) holds ownership interests in wineries such as Kistler, Three Sticks, Gary Farrell and Kosta Browne, as well as Durell Vineyard…”

Continuing that“The fruit has always been killer per Michael Browne of Kosta Browne, calling it ‘the backbone of our Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir’ (a Wine Spectator Wine of the Year). Located in the foothills of Sonoma Mountain, east of Rohnert Park, the vineyard offers a variety of soil types at elevations ranging from 300 to 800 feet above sea level. ‘It doesn’t get pounded by cold air,’ which is typical in the often-gusty Petaluma Gap, Browne said. Many of the vines also sit above the fog level, which benefits ripening. ‘It’s kind of a magic mix, the vineyard produces some pretty intense fruit.’ Browne said.”

There ya go, killer fruit, killer winemaking, killer deal. Pull the trigger!

96 Points, Double Gold – Press Democrat Wine Challenge