Our fellow wine merchants (even _Wine.com _) are all sold out of today’s multi award-winning Grgich Hills Estate 2013 Napa Valley Cabernet. Because we have a special relationship with Grgich, they’ve given us a special allotment for our well-deserving Operatives.

Reserve enough of this 96 point wine to last you through the 2017/18 holidays.

This wine exudes Napa Cabernet, with bold aromas of black cherry, cherry cordial, black currant, blueberry pie, red currant, tobacco leaf, coffee bean, subtle baking spice, licorice (red and black), and a hint of pepper.

Bold and balanced on the palate, with flavors of blackberry, black cherry, black currant, black licorice, blueberry, hard leather, spice, baker’s chocolate-covered cherry, subtle cigar box, graphite and toasty oak.

In 1976, Mike Grgich rocked the wine world by creating a California that beat out French Chardonnays in the now famous Judgment of Paris. The French were outraged, and Mike Grgich earned the respect of wine drinkers and critics, worldwide. Today, Mike continues to oversee production of what have been heralded as “the finest wines in the world”. We are very proud to be able to bring you today’s fantastic Grgich Hills Estate Napa Valley Merlot.

Drink this beautiful wine now, or through 2025 - and beyond if you take special care of her…

Here’s what the wine press has to say:

96 points - Michael Apstein, Wine Review Online - “This wine shows the beauty of Napa Valley Cabernet. Not bigger, but just a more muscular style of Cabernet Sauvignon than is the norm, the 2013 Grgich Hills Estate Cabernet Sauvignon has extraordinary finesse. It’s truly an iron fist in a velvet glove.

It conveys a gorgeous minerality, almost a hint of tarriness wrapped with supple, fine tannins. It has a Pauillac-like power for those who like comparisons with Bordeaux, but indeed, this is a Napa Valley Cabernet at its best with plenty of dark fruit and herbal flavors to enhance its mineral-like feel.

Long and balanced, Grgich Hills Estate has created the paradox of a wine that is delicious for drinking now with a lamb chop, but will evolve and develop beautiful over the next decade or two.”

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93 points - James Suckling - “Lots of blackberry, black cherry and blueberry aromas and flavors. Full body, silky tannins and a long and flavorful finish.”

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92 points - Tasting Panel Magazine - “Rich plum and cassis with smooth texture and balanced flavors; clean, juicy and long. 12% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot, 4% Cabernet Franc.”

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91 points - Connoisseurs Guide to California Wine - “Very pure, keenly focused Cabernet fruit sits at the heart of this tight, yet varietally fluent youngster, and is joined by a careful complement of supportive oak. The wine is fully ripe without tipping to excess, and, while its integral tannins and firming acidity work to limit its accessibility at the moment, they provide a fine backbone for aging, and there is no question but that this one will evolve very nicely over the next six to eight years.”

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90 points - Wine & Spirits Magazine** - “Grgich Hills farms 62 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Petit Verdot at the north end of Yountville, on either side of Highway 29. Those organically farmed vines form the basis of this wine, with additional fruit from the estate-grown vines in Rutherford and Calistoga. It has the fresh tannins of the 2013 vintage, firm and tight, their power shadowing the fruit in notes of cherry skin and bitter chocolate. Give this time to evolve.”

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90 points - California Grapevine Magazine - “Medium to medium-dark ruby; forward, toasty, spicy, cassis and blackberry fruit aroma with hints of clove and mocha; full body; big, textured, cedary, dark fruit flavors with hints of tobacco and graphite; full tannin; lingering aftertaste. Currently a bit rough in the mouthfeel, and needing bottle aging to help further integrate the fruit and oak. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.”