“This may be the rare affordable bottling from Pritchard Hill…” – Wine Advocate

GANNNDONNNAAAA! Sounds like something you’d yell, accompanied by an alpenhorn - Ricola style.

One of the hottest new projects by Philippe Melka is back. And this time, it’s all the better. Better vintage. Better price. Only a matter of hours before every bottle is gone.

The price?! $85 off the $130 release price. Or in other words, WAY OVER 60% off from us. If Wine Advocate called this a “rare affordable bottling” at the full release price, you must wonder what they’d say seeing it at our price today.

A quick search in the Operative Hangout shows heaps of love for the previous vintage. It showed up on many Ops’ “best of” lists, and elicited heaps of love like “Great bottle. Bought 3. Wish I bought more.” and praised as “very much the Melka style.”

Very much Melka, yes. Except you often pay $100-200, or much more to get a taste of his handiwork.

Perched way above the valley floor overlooking Lake Hennessey, you’ll find the Gandona Estate. Tucked between Colgin and Bryant Family and not far from Chappellet, this relatively new winery has been making serious moves and pulling out all the stops as they punch their way to the top.

Gandona is the vision of Manuel Pires come to life. He grew up on his granddad’s farmland in the Douro, and always wanted to return to those farming roots. With a fortune made in the electronic key control business he set to work purchasing an estate on Pritchard Hill. The name Gandona is Portuguese for hillside. He planted 12 blocks of vines on the steep terrain. Then he got 100-point winemaker Phillipe Melka to make the wine. No expense was spared - from the excavated caves to the barrel program.

Encosta (beginning in Portuguese) is their entry-level wine, but it’s anything but. Meant to be enjoyed early, it boasts ripe and forward fruits, with minerality, spices, and an airy overall sophistication. Ripe blueberries, brambly blackberries, sweet violets up front with snappy black licorice, toasty spices, and cedar lingering out back. Chewy, dusty tannins and a fairly vivid acidity add to the equation, and the sum equals one fantastic Pritchard Hill Cabernet.

93 Points – Wine Advocate “Located on Pritchard Hill, Gandona includes its own winery and caves, plus 17 acres of estate vineyards. Built in 2010, the winery includes concrete fermenters, which consultant Philippe Melka says give the wines more minerality, a different tannic structure, and a sweeter fruit profile. The Estate bottling includes just lots from the steepest, terraced parcels, while the Encosta includes fruit from flatter portions of the property, as well as lots that don’t make the cut for the Estate. Portugal-born proprietor Manuel Pires purchased the property in 2006 and has some Portuguese varieties planted on the site as well, but the two wines reviewed here are 100% Cabernet Sauvignon (Estate) and 98.25% Cabernet Sauvignon, with tiny amounts of Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc and Merlot (Encosta). Gandona’s 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Encosta features scents of crushed stone and pencil shavings layered atop ripe plums and black cherries. While it’s full-bodied, with some grainy tannins, it’s not unapproachable, with a long, dusty-textured finish. For those keeping track of the minutia, it was aged in two-thirds new French oak, and there’s a tiny proportion of other grape varieties: Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc, and Merlot. Previous vintages are still on the market for around $100, so this may be the rare affordable bottling from Pritchard Hill. Drink 2023-2035.”