Oh baby, we’re BUZZIN’ on this one. VELVET BEE back in the house!! Slurpy Somms and serious Operatives know what’s up – but they’ve never seen it at a price like THIS!

$28 for some seriously tasty Cab? Sign us up all day for this “cellar defender”!

Happy Canyon is an emerging region known for elegant Bordeaux varietals. At the far eastern edge of Santa Ynez Valley AVA, Happy Canyon enjoys a significantly warmer climate and a heavenly rolling terrain. And Velvet Bee is in the middle of this beautiful and hidden gem. Owners Phil and Collette Kaplan focus on the pleasures of life and make wines of finesse and interest without ever being overpowering.

The Kaplans trained under - and were influenced by - the great Joe Davis of Arcadian. As PinotFile puts it “Phil and Collette Kaplan came to the venture partial to French wines and the goal was to mimic those wines stylistically.”

We’ve featured the couple’s Pinot Noir before, and it was a huge sellout hit. Kept hitting them up for more when this Cabernet walked in the door, and we were in LUUUUV!!!

Bringing this down to $28 is not only sweet as honey but also completely NUTS!

This is a beautiful example of how much Happy Canyon rocks. A blend of 77% Cab, 15% Merlot, and 8% Cab Franc, the wine is barrel aged for 18 months in 50% new French oak. It is silky, fresh and complex. Intense aromas of cherry, brambly blackberry, and deep dark chocolate lead into flavors of currant, light toast, and just the perfect touch of vanilla. Sprinkle some fairy pollen and voila, Napa can only dream of hitting this price point at this quality level.

But the word is getting out and prices are going up, as names like Jonata, Crown Point, or Tyler continue to stack up the big scores and wine tycoons from all over flock. As The Wall Street Journal acutely asked in a spotlight of this up-and-coming region just last year: “The Priciest Wine Country Real Estate in the U.S.? You Won’t Find It in Napa.”

Oh, and the couple behind Velvet Bee is entirely consumed by winemaking passion. Not only with the name or the label, but the boutique attention to detail and the environmentalist approach here eerily reminds us of the unrelated Beekeeper Cellars, whose Zins are equally delicious and complex. There are bees (naturally), lavender, vegetables, and apples under their hospices, and all thrive symbiotically.

Don’t seek press or compare prices. You won’t find any. These folks don’t make much of each wine and therefore there is only so much to go around!

You’re welcome… now go reap the benefits of being an Operative in the know.