Like gravity, like rain, that Foley Johnson Lake Cab SELL OUT was inevitable.

So how about a buck less yet a lot more next?

Do you like paying $100 for a nice Cabernet? What about $50? No…make that $19! MUCH better amirite? Throw in 91 points, a Gold Medal, AND a fantastic discount. That’s the ticket!! BUT there’s never enough Cab at this price… so whatever you do, don’t let this one get away again!!

If you want all that big, lush Napa fruit without the price tag, you best be looking at Paso Robles. You’ll find some remarkable values here, like this juicy, extracted, friendly little fruit bomb. You know you’re in for a treat as soon as you pop the cork – the aromatics, redolent of sweet black cherry and clove, hint at what’s coming. It simply POPS with rich, dark, bodyrockin’ fruit. There’s cherry jolly ranchers and black raspberry combining with a fresh herbal, caramel, and vanilla backbone. BIg on fruit, but not heavy or thick, and it reigns in the alcohol too at just 13.9%. Just a super friendly, uber honest Cabernet you can sink into any night of the week.

The Filippini family switched from hay and cattle to wine grapes in the early 1980s and have been part of the growing wine movement in the region since then. A first-generation Italian immigrant, Walter Filippini still has a strong tie to the culinary traditions of the Old World, as he grew up in the gorgeous Lake Como area, working at family vineyards and gastronomic institutions. It should not come as a surprise then that besides grapes, the Filippini Ranch also grows olives and pistachios.

Perhaps it’s also no accident that the winery relies on the expertise of veteran winemaker Terry Culton. Seemingly incapable of making a wine that gets less than a gold medal or a 90+ rating, Culton holds a Top-Flight Winemaker badge from none other than Robert Parker. His diverse resume is star-studded, ranging from nearby legends Adelaida and Peachy Canyon, to Calera Wine Company further up north and all the way to Oregon’s Willamette Valley Vineyards.

So… get at least a few more bottles than you think you need. It’s that good and we fully expect to see a lot of those “Y’all got anymore of that Paso Cab?” messages in the coming weeks… but no guarantees we’ll have any left.

91 Points – Wine Enthusiast

“Rich aromas of black cherry and vanilla are seasoned with oregano and thyme on the pleasantly complex nose of this bottling. That complexity extends to the sip, where red-cherry and boysenberry flavors mesh with herbs, caramel and vanilla-spice flavors.”

Gold Medal – New World International Wine Competition