2013 Sueno Profundo Cabernet Sauvignon Stags Leap District Napa Valley 750 ml

The Blizzard, Gronk, and a Stags Leap Snafu

As the snow fell on Central Park on Saturday, we set up a Skype conference call to rethink our Sunday email strategy. Snow days are wild cards at WineAccess. Sometimes, there’s nothing better for business than having tens of thousands of members trapped in their houses and apartments. But the combination of Brady vs. Manning and a freak storm had us wondering why we shouldn’t take a rare day off.

With no idea what to expect, we decided to play it safe. While most of the country would receive a story about the 2012 Cinque Insieme, we decided to “clean up” the last 42 cases of the 2013 Sueño Profundo Stags Leap Cabernet Sauvignon on a quick afternoon send, just before kickoff.

We confirmed the strategy to the production team by email 10 minutes after the Skype call ended. Then we broke out the cross-country skis and headed north towards the park, figuring we had everything under control.

Alan B.’s first day on the email marketing team was December 4th. Typically, a new hire masters the software in 10 weeks. But Alan is sharp — razor-sharp — and seemed to have everything under control in just seven. Or so we were told by Paul Z., the team lead, on Sunday evening … after all hell broke loose.

Paul Z. is a diehard Pats fan. He lives, breathes, and eats Gronk. In a decision the FORMER team lead now regrets, shortly after we sent out our confirmation email on Saturday evening, he sent an email to Alan, asking the new guy if he’d mind running solo on Sunday.

Alan, as always, was ready and willing … if not yet able.

Alan insists he hit the SEND button at 1pm. Perhaps he did. Yet when we studied the logs yesterday, not a single Stags Leap email hit a member inbox. If no one reads, no one buys. As a result, a day after Brady and Gronk’s vacation begins (gotta love it, PAUL!!!), we still have 42 cases remaining of Ry Richards’ magnificent Stags Leap Cabernet Sauvignon — from a 2013 vintage that Robert Parker and most of the veteran Cabernet-makers in Napa Valley believe to be the best in 37 years.

The more we taste the 2013s, particularly from AVAs like Stags Leap, Oakville, and Rutherford, the more we’re convinced that this is not only one of the richest vintages in memory, but also the most age-worthy. Comprised of 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, Richards’s 2013 Sueño Profundo is a finely muscled powerhouse. Broad and dense, with tightly wound aromas of cassis, blackberry, and licorice. Sweet, almost chewy texturally, filled with gobs of blackberry preserves, splashed with crème de cassis, finishing with classic Stags Leap tannins. If your palate is geared towards primary-fruit Cabernet Sauvignon, drink now to mid-2017. Otherwise, don’t pop a cork until 2020, when the vintage fireworks will really begin.

Compared to $75. Finally … 42 cases are up for grabs. Shipping included on 4.