In the land of $6,500 Sauvignon Blanc (yes it exists, thank you Screaming Eagle) it’s increasingly rare to get your money’s worth. Therefore, when we landed a single-vineyard Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc under $15 with Beringer and Raymond lineage, fresh as daisies too, we WENT NUTS, understandably. Spring is in the air and summer is around the corner. Just can’t stand the thought of leavening our Operatives thirsty, so join the craze, this could be the new TP of wine, it ought to move fast!

Brilliant white gold with lovely bright reflections of silver and a tinge of chamomile tea. The nose concocts a complex mélange of grapefruit, white pineapple, beeswax, and a touch of rose petals, while the palate puts forth the perfect marriage of fresh citrus and rind, subtle tropical fruits, and chalky minerality. The finish is persistent, clearly demonstrating the complexity that Sauvignon Blanc can achieve in experienced hands. Firing on all cylinders today, this is rich and voluminous enough to go superbly with creamy seafood pasta dishes, leaving the precise pick of ingredients to your creativity.

2017 marks the 12th harvest at Admiral’s. Besides the ubiquitous white bird of prey that puts the pricing here into perspective (stuck with the insane notion of it costing 500 times this) we have the wine press to thank too for still having this wine around, be it just a few last cases, and letting us work out this magical deal, as they completely overlooked this gem and there are zero reviews or ratings on it. And that’s a wonderful thing as it tastes right in the low 90s and would have been looong gone by now with that kinda score!

Only the local newspaper, Napa Valley Register seems to have caught wind, making an earlier vintage Wine of the Week; “The wine, by Five Vintners, lists Jacob Beringer, Otto Beringer, Roy Raymond, Walter Raymond and Krisi Raymond with Kirk Wrede. If there was ever a venerable crowd of Napa Valley vintners, this is one of them. Krisi Raymond’s great-great grandfather was Jacob Beringer, who was a true pioneer of the valley in the 1870s. Otto Beringer followed suit, with medicinal and sacramental wines between the 1920s and ’30s. Roy Raymond married Martha Jane Beringer in 1936 and he was followed by Walter Raymond, who created the first vintage at the family-owned winery in 1974. I love history, but the wine, too, is incredible… A beautiful wine to just sip, or discuss Napa Valley history over.”

All that legacy and endorsement for $13? Think in cases, not bottles as it’s going to be a long Spring and Summer!