“So much of life, it seems to me, is determined by pure randomness.” – Sidney Poitier

Random fact 1: Don’t know about you but we eagerly await the 10th anniversary (where does time go?!) special release of Daft Punk’s “drumless” Random Access Memories in a few weeks.

Random fact 2: There IS a $27 Mount Veeder Cabernet in your near future that will pair stunningly well with the aforementioned album. THIS - the ubiquitous Random Ridge, remains stuck at a nostalgic price. There’s NOTHING left up there for that kind of money. Tasting rooms charge more for a SIP these days.

Yet the QUALITY? The richness? The depth? Unmatched. Dunno how Bill Howley does it, but year in year out, we just can’t seem to get enough of this puppy. Posing nude with a surfboard in a snowcapped vineyard at 2,400 feet elevation must have something to do with it.

Random Ridge is a true insiders-only, old school winery on the backside of Mount Veeder, with some of the highest elevated vineyards in all of Napa Valley. Bill snagged this beautiful Mayacamas property in 1979, with a Walden-esque vision. He built a house out of recycled lumber for his family and planted 9.5 acres in the rugged volcanic soil and has been steadily cranking out killer wines for almost thirty years.

Wait… from the appellation that hits the $150-500+ range effortlessly with the likes of Mayacamas or Lokoya - home to some of the finest Cab grown anywhere in Napa Valley?! Yes, please. At $60 retail it’s already an outrageous value in its zip code. With 55% OFF though, it’s a wine emergency if we know one.

Bill Hawley describes these beasts as “spicy, extracted and rich wines with alti-dude.” Only a few barrels are made and most of that goes straight to their club members, visitors, restaurants, or small bottle shops. Has everything you want. Swelling with a HUGE core of blackberry jam, dark brown sugar, bittersweet chocolate, and violets all wrapped in a robe of toasty oak. Leans into that ultra-rich, get-barreled, ripe, no-holds-barred type of Cabernet.

With so little wine to go around, Bill sees no reason to send samples to the wine press anymore. A past tasting note from Robert Parker raves about “excellent winemaking… copious quantities of sweet, jammy black fruits intermixed with smoke, earth, and spice… a dense, spicy wine with considerable potential, its forward charms are difficult to resist. Drink it over the next decade, but don’t be surprised to see it develop more complexity.”

Thanks, Bob, shipping me two cases!