2015 Watkins Family Winery Pinot Noir Crinella Vineyard Russian River Valley 750 ml

No winery—and we mean NONE—hits the bullseye with our members more consistently than Watkins.

Every single wine we’ve offered from Randall Watkins has been a straightaway sell-out. That’s in part because Randall has granted us—and no one else—access to his cellar, and also because it contains some of the most perfectly aged and exquisite under-the-radar bottles in Northern California.

Randall made just 149 cases of this Pinot, sourcing it from the outstanding Crinella Vineyard in Russian River’s Green Valley, where his vines sit alongside those tended by benchmark producers like Merry Edwards, Siduri, DuMOL, and Kosta Browne. This is his current release—he doesn’t sell his wines until they’re ready to shine, and as soon as you pull the cork on this 2015, you’ll instantly know why he waits.

Back-vintage wines are some of the most valuable bottles on the market—pre-aged, perfectly preserved specimens from wineries’ private stocks—and when they’re from top years they can transcend price. That’s because such wines are stashed away in collectors’ homes or winery libraries, effectively removing them from the market.

We’ve been buying from and supporting this small, family-owned Sonoma operation since they were making just two barrels each of Zinfandel and Chardonnay. Today, Watkins mailing list members regularly buy up the entire production because the wines are held close to the hearts of countless collectors. However, our early patronage has paid off with unprecedented cellar access. It’s a straight-up steal, crafted by one of our favorite boutique producers from one of the top Pinot sites in California.