2016 As One Cru Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 750 ml

A few months ago, we got a text out of the blue. It was a good friend from about a decade back, a restaurant lifer who’d risen through the ranks to become COO of a beloved Southeastern steakhouse group. Newly retired, he was living the good life in the Florida keys, keeping sharp with some consulting work. 

In his text, he told us he was working with a small winery that should be on our radar. The project was called AsOneCru. The man behind it was Chris Radomski, co-founder of Hundred Acre, one of the most sought-after labels in Napa Valley.

Radomski founded AsOneCru in 2016, bringing the lessons he learned at Hundred Acre—the biggest being fantatical attention to detail. He enlisted his friend, super A-list winemaker Ehren Jordan of Failla, as consulting winemaker. And in their first vintage, they tapped two prestigious vineyards—one in St. Helena, one on Howell Mountain—to make a small batch of Cabernet.

They aged the wine in 100% new French oak for a whopping 30 months—a long stretch that served the wine particularly well. “Despite the power in the fruit,” Chris told us recently, “the enhanced barrel time gave the wine a really nice balance.” Finally, they released the wine—of which only 350 cases exist—to select on-premise accounts. 

Not long ago, the library-release 2016 AsOneCru Cabernet found its way to Decanter’s Cabernet maven Jonathan Cristaldi. Cristaldi tasted the wine, and he was floored. “This wine is simply outstanding, in superb condition, nearly nine years after the 2016 harvest,” he wrote. It keeps good company at the top of the charts, ahead of Promontory ($1,000+) and Bryant Family Vineyard ($750+).

But we’ve got a share for Wine Access members, at a time when most top-scoring 2016s have disappeared into collectors’ cellars—and the ones that are available cost more than Cheval Blanc. Thanks to one well-timed text from an insider buddy of ours, we’re proud to present one of 2016’s top Cabernets, cellared and ready to drink.