“Paul Hobbs crafts these outstanding Cabernet Sauvignons for proprietors David and Karen Dunphy.” – Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate

Paul Hobb$!!

If this were any other Hobbs-made Cab, you’d be paying at least 3X our price. This definitely lives up to the $95 release and is almost thievery at our $38 price today.

Look at it this way.

You could buy a generic Justin Cab at Costco for $25-30. Or spend $8 more and get something like this. And it will outclass and outpace everything in its range. Some wines have trouble representing their release price, but not this. If anything, we’re guessing the label art may have taken some of the wind out of its sails because it doesn’t match the power, purity and polish inside.

Black Cordon’s second label, ‘Sixteen by Twenty’ was a surprise hit a few weeks back when we tasted it. At nearly 10 years old it has barely moved and still has insane freshness, ripe fruit, and hardly a trace of secondary aging nuances. Mind you, 2016 was a wildly good year in Napa, and one of top vintages in the last few decades, so that’s not surprising.

And that’s what we’d expect from “The Steve Jobs of Wine” as Forbes dubbed him.

The man is a legend, known for his unwavering attention to detail and his mastery of oak aging. Twice named Wine Personality of the Year by Robert Parker, he is a visionary and a pioneer. He was hired by Robert Mondavi back in the day and went on to be responsible for some of the biggest names in California wine - Opus One, Simi Winery, Peter Michael, Lewis Cellars before starting his own label, consulting business, as well as a series of wineries globally from Argentina to France.

Per Antonio Galloni’s Vinous too, “This is a solid set of Cabernets from Black Cordon. The wines are all rich, very ripe and powerful in style and will be most appreciated by readers who seek raciness and unctuousness in Napa Valley Cabernet.”

Maybe it’s the sourcing, too. Fruit comes from three places: the winery’s Estate Vineyard located at the base of Mount Veeder. Another from one of Knight’s Valley’s most iconic vineyards, used in Beringer’s Knights Valley Reserve Cabernet for years. The third is a secret source in Coombsville…

It has “raciness and unctuousness” for sure! No ratings or reviews, but the man has racked up countless 100 pointers. And if we’re being honest, is probably a good thing because otherwise it might not be here in front of us. But c’mon… Paul Hobbs, baby!

And back to the vintage - “The 2016s are aromatically expressive, nuanced and super-finessed.” per Vinous again who rates it a towering 98 points for Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. Time may have brought it even closer to perfection.

On their The Napa Wine Project profile page here from a couple of years back, there’s a Mike PCB who wrote “I opened your 2015 Sixteen by Twenty Cab tonight – absolutely amazing. Blackberry, black cherry, cassis, and chocolate were surrounded by round smooth tannins and supported with just the right acidity…” finishing with the question “Where can I purchase more?”

The answer? You already know.

Paul Hobbs-made, 2016, under $40 is a guaranteed sellout trifecta. Claim yours now.