Super Bowl Sunday!

Time to pop the good stuff and eat ALL the things – nachos and sliders, the dips, the chips, and other apps (chicken bacon alfredo breadboat anyone?)

Whether your team “Bang Bang Niner Gang” or marching with the Taylor Swift’s, we can all come together to celebrate THIS score – even if we can’t explicitly tell you the name. In fact, re-read that previous sentence and you’ll find the first hint at today’s Classified offer. Big hint and you’ll know why once it’s in your hands, this is as close as we’ll get to an official “Super Bowl wine!”

We’re already saying too much…

If you’re new, here’s the deal with these “Classified” offers. For reasons that will become clear, these wines are so good, so in demand, and so exclusive, they must remain hidden behind a cloak of secrecy. You rarely, if ever, see them at a discount. And because some wineries are so price-sensitive, their mailing list members would go ballistic if word got out.

Revealing the name would put our livelihood at stake. Our industry is built on relationships and us not wanting to ruffle feathers, sometimes it’s a necessary precaution to redact some of the information.

Unless…

We go full redaction - CLASSIFIED - über-top-secret under the moonless black night with it. Or on a quiet Super Bowl Sunday morning as is the case here. HOWEVER. We can drop some morsels to nibble on - and the savvy Ops out there might piece together a fair guess…

Made by THE Thomas Rivers Brown! An all-star winemaker with “The Midas Touch” per Wine Spectator, behind Schrader, Outpost, Gemstone, Kinsella, Rivers-Marie just to name a few. The man racks up more scores than Christian McCaffrey.

Sourced from a single, small, estate vineyard somewhere near The French Laundry in the heart of Napa Valley. Per Antonio Galoni’s Vinous “Thomas Rivers Brown makes compelling wines (here… and these) Cabernets have always been delicious, but in recent years I find a bit more nuance that is probably the result of small improvements in farming and greater age of the vines.”

Basically, it’s impossible to find outside of the Napa tasting room, or a few select restaurants.

Like most of TRB’s wines, the magic starts in the vineyard. He only works with AAA grade fruit, and from there he weaves together a wine that’s approachable while young, with a booming, unctuous core of expansive, ripe fruit and soft, sweet tannins. Think maraschino cherries, blackberry jam, red plum, toasted herbs, cocoa nibs, and tilled earth. Supple, sweet tannins and oak hold it together, and a nice acidity keeps it moving along. Rich but not heavy, and just hugely satisfying from the first sip. At this price it easily outpaces plenty of 150+ Napa Cabs. If you’re still reading, our stash is dwindling fast.

What else can we say? When it lands on your doorstep, tear the package open and you’ll be thrilled. Will be long gone by kickoff!