2015 Kobalt Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 750 ml

Cult-Level Blue-Black Cabernet Stunner

Everything about this wine—from the opulence to the star winemaker, to the tiny production—screams “cult.” Just not the price. At $89.99 per bottle, in a Napa Valley world of rising cult status wines, get in now while it's still under-$100. Shipping included on all orders.

One quick scan the 2015 Napa Cabernets that earned 95 points from Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate reveals a slew of famous names: Davis Estates, Frank Family “Patriarch,” Kata, and Morlet, coming in at $255, $225, $195, and $275 respectively. One of the only under-$100 wines standing tall among those giants is this full-bodied, blue- and black-fruit-driven, graphite-infused, sumptuous gem, the 2015 Kobalt Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley.

The man best known for creating the infinitely-lauded red wine Merus, Mark Herold, is the driving force behind Kobalt, which was born in Herold’s garage, sharing space with his flagship wine. In Napa’s 97-point 2015 vintage, Herold sourced enough stellar fruit from his go-to vineyard in Coombsville to eke out 20-barrels of Kobalt, which Jeb Dunnuck rated 96 points, and Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate gave a 95, calling the 100% Cabernet “rich, opulent, and full-on seductive.”

Mark Herold, writes Robert Parker, “first came to my attention because of the brilliant wines he produced under the name Merus.” The world caught notice too, falling for what Parker calls the “full-throttle, massively extracted, rich Cabernet Sauvignon-based wines” for which Herold has become known. So far, critics and consumers can’t seem to get enough of Herold’s juice: His 98-point Mastodon, offered exclusively in Magnum, sells for $800!

That’s no real surprise, given the man’s resume. Herold soaked up wisdom and success at his first wine gig, as a research enologist for the California Cabernet standard-bearers at Joseph Phelps. Then he went on to found Merus, which Wine Spectator called “one of California’s most exciting new wineries.” Operating out of a converted garage alongside his wife, he started releasing Cabernets that were instant collectibles, scoring in the high 90s. He also began working on the side for a half-dozen high-profile California wineries, including Kamen and Hestan, leading Spectator to call him “one of Napa Valley’s best-known Cabernet winemaking consultants.”

But in that very garage, alongside Merus, Herold and his partner Kevin Carriker brought forth Kobalt. It has been tiny-production from the start, consisting of just over 400 cases in the beginning—now, more than a decade later, they put out just 500 cases. The wine impressed Robert Parker from the first vintage, and little has changed. Not the lofty scores, not the stellar single vineyard source in Coombsville, and not the luxurious aging regimen in new Darnajou barrels. Opaque, glass-staining purple with tons of dark fruit and complex spice, this is a top level Napa Valley Cabernet made by a master. Trust the 96 points from Dunnuck and the 95 Wine Advocate, but verify them: Open Kobalt alongside one of the best California Cabernets in your cellars, and you’ll see: This one belongs in the big leagues.