“Quality in 2021 is high, right up there with Napa’s top vintages of the 21st Century so far. Therefore, I recommend buying whatever you’re offered/can find of the 2021s.” – The Wine Independent

Can’t stop! Won’t stop! The deal flow cannot be controlled, and we’re PUMPED about this one.

PINE RIDGE! A stalwart on the Silverado Trail and one of Napa’s most reliable producers.

With an inaugural restaurant-only release that we somehow managed to get in front of you today, and at a price no Pine Ridge Cab has been seen before. Where do we start?

Winemaker Josh Widaman. A name you may have heard of, from his time at Lewis Cellars back to 2012, along with Pahlmeyer and Chimney Rock prior to that. Among his big accomplishments are making a Wine Spectator #1 Wine of the Year and countless high scores across all press. He recently took on Pine Ridge, so this 2021 is his inaugural vintage.

If this wine is any indicator, the future is VERY bright.

The 2021 harvest certainly helped him, too. Vinous agrees it’s “a fabulous vintage… the wines have tremendous energy and finesse, some of the savory intensity of other drought vintages but with more aromatic explosiveness and greater inner sweetness.”

Inner sweetness, mmm. EXACTLY what this gorgeous Cab showcases. The inaugural release of Traveler’s Series blends seven select vineyards extending beyond their location on the trail. This combines fruit from Solano County, Sonoma County and Napa County. After 12 months in 40% new oak, they blend them together into one beautifully made wine.

While their other Cabs cost upwards of $160, you get a taste of pure Pine Ridge quality for UNDER $40. All kinds of fruits red, black, and blue burst from the glass with lovely mocha, espresso, and sweet vanilla undertones. Past the nose, it’s a real mouthful of Cab any way you taste it. Bold, ripe, rich, and flavorful, with complex layers of currant, chocolate nibs, strawberry, black cherry, and plum nicely accented with cedary oak. Terrific now and has the stuffing to keep a good decade.

Tom Hyland for Forbes recites the legacy best: “It’s a bit of a new golden age for Napa Valley these days. While wines have been produced here since the mid-19th century, I think of the first golden age as the period between mid-to-late 1960s to the late 1970s when estates such as Robert Mondavi, Sterling, Heitz and a few dozen others began crafting Cabernet… that is king in Napa Valley, and these wines have brought worldwide acclaim to this wine region. One of those producers that began with Cabernet in the late 1970s was Pine Ridge… The wines today are beautifully crafted, and I’m positive that Gary Andrus would be proud of what his successors have accomplished.”

If you’re into blue chip Napa Cabs like Stags Leap Wine Cellars or Caymus but are seeking the ultimate everyday bargain to pile up on - you found it!