2016 Janzen Cloudy's Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 750 ml

Let us be direct: This is a Cabernet deal you can’t afford to miss. Janzen’s Cloudy’s Vineyard Cab explodes with pedigree, and we have it for $66 off the winery’s suggested price, by far the best price in the nation. 

Deals like this don’t happen often, and they’re getting harder and harder to find. 

This dark, silken 2016 has first-class pedigree coming from all angles: It’s 100% single-vineyard estate Cabernet, crafted by a Caymus alum and 100-point winemaker Kirk Venge. 

We’ve been fans of Janzen for years, and fell hard for the 2016, which balances its powerful and full body with a smooth, polished mouthfeel and essences of dark chocolate and spice. 

Jeb Dunnuck chimed in too, calling the 2016 “sexy” and “opulent” in his glowing review. This is a bottle that bursts with cellar potential, though our sample disappeared over the course of the lunch hour alongside heaping plates of steak vampiros. 

Only 210 cases were made of this cellar-worthy stunner, and we've got it at 40% off SRP—a steal for single-vineyard Cab from a 100-point Napa winemaker. 

Cloudy Vineyard is Janzen's prized plot and their steepest estate vineyard, situated high on rocky mountainside terrain. During our last visit to the site, we spent most of our hike just trying to stay upright as the vineyard’s volcanic earth crumbled at our feet. 

The Cabernet struggles just as much, reaching down into the nutrient-poor soils of the Vaca mountain range to search for water, resulting in deeply concentrated grapes loaded with dense tannin and intense mountain berry overtones. Add to that 28 months in Taransaud French oak barrels, and Janzen’s mountain Cabernet yields some of its muscular power to make room for layers of baking spice, tobacco, and cedar. 

Born in Rutherford, winemaker Kirk Venge is California Cabernet royalty: His father, Nils Venge, produced the 1985 Groth Reserve Cabernet, the first California wine to win 100 points from Robert Parker. Following in the steps of his father, Kirk has produced a slew of high-scoring wines for Venge, Beau Vigne, and JAX Vineyards, clinching his own perfect score from Parker for the incandescent 2013 Beau Vigne Reserve Cabernet. 

Janzen, Kirk channels the power of legendary releases into a bottle that’s a steal for pedigreed Napa Cabernet, and the 2016 provided incredible raw materials for this master winemaker. A flawless season in Napa Valley, Janzen’s 2016 is a textual treasure from one of the best vintages in recent history. 

This value is rare from anywhere in Napa, let alone from a top winemaker. With only a few cases to offer at the best price in the nation, we expect our allocation to vanish.