2015 Rudius Wines Cabernet Sauvignon Kaley Elizabeth Vineyard Oakville 750 ml

The first time we offered the Rudius Kaley Elizabeth Oakville Cabernet from winemaker Jeff Ames, the force behind the 99-point wines of Tor Kenward, it sold out in hours and became an overnight Wine Access favorite. Next vintage, same story: It disappeared into our members’ cellars—and that was before the massive critical praise hit the airwaves.

So the writing’s on the wall for the 2015 vintage of the Rudius Kaley Elizabeth Cabernet Oakville, which boasts twin 96-point scores from both Jeb Dunnuck and Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate. Drawn from small yields of powerful, concentrated Cabernet, this is a black fruit explosion with creamy oak, savory herbs, and gobs of cassis, graphite, pipe tobacco, and licorice. 

Up there in Wine Advocate’s 96-point zone, the 2015 Kaley Elizabeth comes out ahead of marquee $200+ Cabs from Cade and Alejandro Bulgheroni. In short, this is a seamless Napa Valley Cabernet gem that stands with the best. Born of world-class terroir and aged for 22 months in 60% new Taransaud barrels, Kaley Elizabeth boasts a tremendous mouthfeel that makes it perfect for early drinking, but it’s also equipped for a stint in the cellar.

This is the kind of opulent, broad-shouldered, and age-worthy Cabernet that inspired Parker to declare rising-star vintner Jeff Ames “a name to reckon with.” No surprise, considering that Ames honed his Cabernet toolkit making wines for Schrader, Tor Kenward, Maybach, and Outpost under 100-point regular Thomas Rivers Brown.

Now, Ames is on a tear with Rudius. His early wines gained critical attention, his scores crept up and up, and in 2012 and 2013, he broke through by placing five Cabernet Sauvignons in Robert Parker’s coveted 94- to 96+-point range—and Kaley Elizabeth consistently places at the top of that range. Sourced from the middle of what is referred to as the “magic mountain” (due to the sheer number of top wines that come from its rocky, iron-rich soils), the grapes that go into the Kaley Elizabeth bottling hail from thirty-year-old vines that are forced to struggle in the rocky soils. This results in tiny berries of phenomenal concentration, which yield multidimensional wines like this one, which explodes with black fruit, cassis, savory herbs and licorice across the palate. 

In 2015, Ames gave the Kaley Elizabeth a little more time in barrel—22 months in 60% new Taransaud barrels—a decision that should thrill those who can’t keep their hands off their bottles of Rudius: It yielded a softer mouthfeel and more seamless wine, without sacrificing any ageability. The end result: another 96-point feather in Jeff’s Crimson Tide cap.