Final Pour: With a recently awarded “told you so” 96 points and only a few cases remaining…

When you see 70% on a wine from “Bob Foley aka God of Cabernet” you check your pulse. Yup, still beating - albeit a bit faster. Because a $195 Cab from THE Bob Foley just dropped into your lap for $58.

You’ll find it on top wine lists for $300+, including Michael Mina restaurants, Morimoto, STK, and Lavo.

Foley is not a name you whisper. Oh no – shout Winemaker of the Year from the rooftops. Mentored by Joe Heitz and André Tchelistcheff. Two of the most revered figures in California wine history. A tenure at Heitz Cellars before 15 years at Markham, and another 15 years as founding winemaker at Pride Mountain Vineyards. Soon, the 97-100 points from Robert Parker flowed, declaring he had “catapulted Pride Mountain into the top echelon” where they remain to date!

Along the way, he created Switchback Ridge, Hourglass, and Paloma, which was named Wine of the Year by Wine Spectator. His own Claret flirts with perfection - iykyk. Today, he’s 50 harvests deep with over 40 consecutive vintages behind him. A mountain of massively scored Cabs to his name, and while most winemakers of his stature delegate the dirty work, Bob still stacks barrels, does pump-overs, and gets his hands all purple. “It keeps me like a kid in a candy store,” he says.

Deep ruby and opaque in the glass. This wine means business from the pour. Give it 20 minutes to open in the glass or decant it, because it rewards patience. (We left our bottle open for a few hours, and boy were we impressed!) When it does open, lilac and dark plum lead the charge, followed by black cherry, boysenberry preserves, smoked sage, a kiss of Madagascar vanilla, and mocha keep building. Structured and concentrated with fine tannins and a chalky grip, lingering long and gracefully. Dense. Focused. Inky and built to go the distance, while in a serious sweet spot right now.

Now, back to the story, because this is not a trust fund baby tale. Jenna and Mara York are twin sisters and members of the San Francisco 49ers ownership family. Yet their wine résumé speaks before the football connection. Like in many old-school Italian families, their Italian gramps poured wine at the dinner table six nights a week. They were debating vintages at five. Harvests at Joseph Phelps, Groth, Spring Mountain, Robert Foley Vineyards, and Viña Cobos in Mendoza. Two years at Reynolds Family. And they helped launch Tusk with Philippe Melka. All while helping run the 49ers!

Here’s where it gets really good. Foley is a lifelong 49ers fan who spent years pouring his wines at team events, leading seminars at charity galas, and donating tastings to Foundation auctions. That’s where he met the young teenage twins Jenna and Mara and told them flat out he’d make their wine someday. They thought he was joking. He came through on a promise made decades earlier. The sisters gifted him a custom jersey when he hit his 49th harvest.

They chose the 2019 vintage to launch, and the timing could not have been more perfect. Decanter called it “a beautifully classic vintage” with balance, energy, and tension.

Does a deal this good with a story and accolades get any better? Rarely… Going, going…

96 Points – Decanter “Crafted by Robert Foley, who makes a rich, full-bodied, unctuous, and delicious Cabernet with classic mountain character, of inky black fruit with lovely sweet, dried wild herbs, with scorched earth notes, espresso bean, and dark chocolate. Wonderfully plush, decadent, and hedonistic. This label is owned by sisters Jenna and Mara York. Drink 2026-2036.”