“…with that plush, velvety-silky Stags Leap District texture perfectly nailed… this is a beauty.” – Wine Advocate (on the 2017)

Mira Mira in the hall, what wine has one of the finest Cabs of all? Mira’s Cabernet Sauvignon Schweizer Vineyard Stags Leap District 2018 - that’s what!

And we have it at under $50 – umm, that’s 80% off the release price of $250. That’s MORE THAN $200 OFF OPS! Spare the winery “promo” special at $160; this wine is exclusive to Wine Spies!

Stags Leap District is the AVA that body-slammed France at the 1976 Judgment of Paris and never looked back. Within that legendary district sits one of Napa’s most prized and secretive fruit sources. Schweizer Vineyard. Over 100 years of continuous farming. Family-owned since 1956. For decades, this family quietly sold fruit to Napa’s heavyweight luxury Cab producers. You know the ones…the kind that ends up in bottles with very serious price tags and very serious waiting lists.

We can respect the secrecy… err impartiality, given how competitive Napa Valley is. Especially when the vineyard consistently yields distinct signature fruit with dark cherry, cassis, dark herbs, iron, and crushed rocks. Structure, elegance with serious aging potential… yeah, that’s a sneak peek of what’s in the glass! BTW, Schweizer is right next to Shafer’s Hillside Select site, which Wine Industry Advisor calls “one of Napa’s most coveted, internationally renowned vineyards.”

So, what made this fiercely private family finally say yes to putting their vineyard name on a label?

Gustavo Gonzalez is what happened. He spent nearly two decades at Robert Mondavi, working his way from harvest lab technician to Head Red Winemaker, consistently pulling 95+ points from top critics nearly every vintage. In 2001, he took a detour to Ornellaia, where he worked alongside the late Michel Rolland. In 2009, while still at Mondavi, Gonzalez co-founded Mira as a side project and went full-time in 2012. His goal? In his own words: “To put all of my experience from around the world into the bottle.” Not a vanity project. Not a rich guy hiring ghost winemakers. This was a winemaker who worked on 5 continents, helped produce a 100-point Tuscan legend, and spent nearly two decades perfecting one of Napa’s most celebrated Cabs, and was finally building something entirely his own.

He even named it with intention. “Mira brings together the Latin root for miracle and the Greek for destiny. It’s the two coming together. I think about destiny a lot… It’s what’s meant to be in relationships as well as our wines.”

Like Rumpelstiltskin spinning straw into gold, Gonzalez had a gift, and everyone in the wine kingdom knew it, including the owners of Schweizer Vineyard. Not once in over a century of farming had the Schweizer name ever appeared on a single label. Until Gonzalez asked. And the family said yes to him. And only him.

Thomas Rivers Brown must have known it too; he rarely adds a new winery to his roster, and Mira hopped on the TRB bandwagon a couple of years ago.

Fast forward… eventually, there comes a time when anyone in their craft wants to be judged blindly by peers with absolutely no agenda. In 2016, on the 40th anniversary of the Judgement of Paris, Gonzalez decided to find out exactly where his Cabernet stood and assembled eleven judges: Master Sommeliers, Advanced Sommeliers, wine experts from six states, and entered the 2012 Schweizer Cab blind against the most intimidating lineup on the planet. Pétrus. Haut-Brion. Screaming Eagle. Schrader To Kalon. Shafer Hillside Select. Latour. Angélus. No labels. No prices. No mercy. The wine director confirmed it: “There is no way to rig this.”

And like Snow White’s mirror, never negotiating or compromising, it just tells you what it sees.

#1 Pétrus. #2 Haut-Brion. #3 Mira Schweizer Vineyard (YUP that’s right …right after the Frenchies and ahead of Screaming Eagle, Schrader, Latour and Angélus.) It was the highest-finishing American wine in the room. :exploding_head: Oh, and Mira was the most affordable on the table at $250. Every other wine in that lineup carries a price tag that makes grown men wince. The kind of number where you look it up, close the tab, and politely smile silently.

Wine Spectator describes 2018 as “a spectacular year, with wines that are rich and dark, but detailed, restrained in style and very terroir-driven” and the highest-rated Napa Cab vintage ever recorded on their chart online. This textbook 2018 is dark and brooding in the glass, the nose opening with violets, blackberry, cigar box, and bay leaf, very reminiscent of the same flavor signatures Gonzalez spent nearly two decades perfecting on the Mondavi Reserve. The palate delivers black currant, crushed rock, iron, and dark herbs with that signature SLD silk running underneath all that muscle. Fine-grained tannins. Long lingering finish. This wine delivers! YUMMERS! :yum: And will age beautifully for decades to come…

At 80% off and a mere $49, where legendary winemakers meet a near-perfect harvest, from one of Napa’s most coveted single vineyards. The Mira mirror has spoken. It’s the Fairest price in the land. :crown:

And if you stare long into that mirror, this one will vanish.

93 Points, Cellar Selection – Tastings.com “Violet color. Aromas and flavors of vanilla boysenberry pie, caramel, chocolate and French roast, and blackberry and black cherries in brandy with a round, lively, dry medium-to-full body and a warming, compelling, medium-length finish displaying notes of vanilla and oak, black cherry syrup with a splash of bourbon, and affogato with coating, woody, drying tannins and heavy oak flavor. Ripe fruit, loads of oak, and tastes expensive but needs lots of time (or decanting) to come around; this is an excellent representation of Stags Leap District.”