Bang For Your Buck Quartet
Bang for the Buck Quartet
The 2020 wildfires have resulted in significantly higher prices for wines today. The tasting panel here at the Napa Valley Winery Exchange takes great care and consideration in evaluating wines, and we place a large emphasis on value… the price vs. quality factor. Below are four different wines at four different price points, every one of them rating the highest in value. We believe when prices go up, so should the quality. Try this four pack of Napa Valley Cabernets and get your “Bang for the Buck Quartet”.
Regular price with shipping: $575+ Value
Thirsty Thursday Special Offer
with Free Domestic Shipping: only $450!
2019 Lewis Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve Napa Valley $210
San Francisco Wine Panel Score 99 Points
(Our all time favorite Lewis Cab, and we sold their very first bottle, with the 1992 vintage debut.)
Lewis has produced many memorable Reserve bottlings, most bolder and heavier than the 2019, yet none with such a wonderful array of virtues. This is a Cabernet of intensity, varietal purity and remarkable elegance. It opens with chiseled aromas of black cherry, dark sour cherry, blackberry, mulberry, blueberry, mocha, mace, coffee toffee, baking spice and sweet tobacco scents. Surprisingly, it is already remarkably supple on the palate, where the tannins are almost completely submerged by tongue-coating flavors that are a perfect mirror of the nose. in the mouth, counterpoints of tannic firmness and textural delicacy create a tension that refocuses everything in a stunningly lingering finish. Expect five to ten years of steady improvement and more than two decades of life, but don’t be surprised at how brilliantly it drinks already. This one is a classic, and one of the true stars of its great vintage.
2019 Whitehall Lane Cabernet Sauvignon Leonardini Vineyard St Helena, Napa Valley $125
San Francisco Wine Panel Score 99 Points
(Our all time favorite Whitehall Cab, and we launched the very first Leonardini Vineyard bottling, with the 1993 vintage)
Yet another stunningly successful 2019 Napa Cabernet Sauvignon, this beauty opens with gorgeous aromas of sour dark cherry, Creme de Cassis, black raspberry, cedar, toffee, baking spice and dried herbs. It is immediately appealing on the palate, where a surge of seductively creamy cherry, berry and oaky spice completely smothers the wine’s rich spine of tannin. The flavors push through to an ultra-long, wonderfully flavorful and delightfully supple finish. This bottling is absolutely captivating right now yet will certainly improve for several more years. 389 cases produced.
2018 Poggi Cabernet Sauvignon Diamond Mountain District, Napa Valley $95
San Francisco Wine Panel Score 95 Points
(Our very favorite bottling, but from a more recent NVWE discovery.)
This is a big, focused, youthful Cab that delivers the impact of 2018 along with the flavor profile and character of its noble appellation. The nose offers aromas of blueberry, black currant, black raspberry, mulberry, peppercorn, cedar, mace, clove, vanilla and coffee bean poised above firming minerality. It is rich and gripping on the palate where a wave of blue fruits dominates notes of leather, coffee bean, cedar, baking spice and dry sage. Gutsy and long, it grows with airing. Expect 6+ years of improvement. 65 cases made.
2018 Kerr Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley $70
San Francisco Wine Panel Score 93 Points
(A true value Cab, priced well below their fancy vineyard designated Cabernets.)
The nose of this fine Cabernet unfolds bright scents of dark plum, dark cherry, black currant, cherry pit, star anise, canela and hazelnut nougat. There is a deep core of cherry, black currant and red plum on the palate, tied to sweet-savory flavors of tobacco leaf, hazelnut husk and a hint of forest-floor spice. The wine’s impression of polished richness is amplified in the lingering finish. Dinner-balanced for current enjoyment, it should grow richer and mellower over the next three years and beyond. 1200 6-packs produced. (This replaces Kerr’s “Curvature” bottling)