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

Random fact 1: Scotland’s national animal is a unicorn. We swear!

Random fact 2: $29 Mount Veeder Cabernet exists (unlike unicorns). No time machines needed. And it pairs stunningly well with the aforementioned album. Yes, the ubiquitous Random Ridge remains frozen in time at a nostalgic price. There’s NOTHING left up there for that kind of money. Tasting rooms charge more for a single POUR these days.

Bill Hawley is one of the last remaining “old guard” winemakers around here. He’s never sold out, marked up, or followed the trends. And that’s a good thing.

Yet the QUALITY? The richness? The depth?

Always unmatched.

We aren’t sure how Bill does it. Maybe it’s his carefree, “live and let live” vibe. Posing nude with a surfboard in a snowcapped vineyard at 2,400 feet elevation seems to illustrate that well. Check it out for yourself - you won’t find a more authentic “about us” page on any winery website if we’re being honest.

Random Ridge is a true insiders-only, old school winery on the backside of Mount Veeder. It sits with some of the highest elevated vineyards in all of Napa Valley. Bill snagged this beautiful Mayacamas property in 1979 and set to work 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 that kicked off a steady string of killer wines going on three decades now.

Mind you, this comes from an appellation where $150-500+ has become a normal sight. Consider the likes of Mayacamas, Promontory, or Lokoya. Mount Veeder is home to some of the finest Cab grown anywhere in Napa Valley. At $60 retail it’s already an outrageous value in its zip code. With OVER 50% OFF though, it’s a no-brainer, Locker Stocker of the highest order.

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. Swelling with a HUGE core of blackberry jam, dark brown sugar, bittersweet chocolate, and violets all wrapped in a robe of toasty oak. It leans into that ultra-rich, “get-barreled”, lavishly 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.” All that is true with this vintage!

Thanks, Bob! We got our cases locked down. The rest are all yours, Operatives! As long as you move fast enough!