2016 Pine Ridge Vineyards Onyx Cabernet Sauvignon Stags Leap District Napa Valley is sold out.

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Exclusive: Stags Leap Cabernet World Premiere

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    2016 Pine Ridge Vineyards Onyx Cabernet Sauvignon Stags Leap District Napa Valley 750 ml

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    • Curated by unrivaled experts
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    • Temperature controlled shipping options
    • Get credited back if a wine fails to impress

    Pine Ridge’s Precious Cabernet Terroir

    It’s a true honor when a legendary producer chooses Wine Access to launch the World Premiere of a wine, which is why I was so thrilled to bring you the black-cored and intense 2016 Pine Ridge Onyx Cabernet Sauvignon Stags Leap District last fall. Our entire share disappeared in 24 hours, and as a result, I’m excited to announce that Pine Ridge has granted Wine Access members another exclusive Onyx allocation.  

    It’s the perfect expression of one of the world’s most prestigious and unique areas for Cabernet Sauvignon, and it’s offered nowhere else in the world—no distributors, no retailers have it. The only place you can get it is here on Wine Access. 

    This is your chance to enjoy a bottle from a legendary estate, while this 2016 is still available. Considering the rave reviews this Onyx garnered in its debut, which include 5-star reviews like  “One of the best I have tasted!” and “A cut above the rest,” I don’t expect the Onyx to be around for long.

    Opening up with a nose of warm black plum and blackberry with violets and mint in the background, the Onyx follows with a rich palate that showcases the soft sultry style that made Stags Leap District famous. With earth tones, dark leather, and raw cacao showing on the finish, this wine is drinking beautifully now, and will evolve tremendously over the next decade plus. 

    This is not just a rare wine from one of the marquee producers of Stags Leap, but a rare value—an estate-bottled Cabernet from a world-famous AVA where the wines regularly exceed triple digits—and we’ve got it at just $65.

    Onyx will not be a perennial wine for Pine Ridge. They’re only making it during exceptional years, which is why they chose the 98-point 2016 season for their inaugural bottling—the vintage set the bar for excellence in the decade. If you go back into the Pine Ridge archives, you’ll see that they made a wine called Onyx in previous vintages. But that was a Right Bank-style blend that bore the Napa Valley appellation—a fundamentally different wine. The reborn Onyx that we’ve been chosen to launch is an estate-bottled Cabernet that boasts the quality and character worthy of bearing the name of the Stags Leap AVA. When we tasted it, it stood out among wines at double the price. 

    Pine Ridge is smack-dab in the heart of the narrow Stags Leap District—has been since the time when the Judgement of Paris put the region on the world map—and benefits from exactly what makes the region so special: Heat collected by the palisades above warm the vines, and breezes from San Pablo Bay cool them efficiently at night, striking the balance between strength and grace that is a hallmark of Stags Leap. The 50-acre property consists of four vineyards: Pine Ridge Estate, Locked Horns, Cornerstone, and Circle Hill, which sit on diverse soils (from well-draining rock to sand and clay loam) and are planted on rolling hills as well as terraces that cling to craggy slopes. It speaks volumes about the quality of the fruit that Pine Ridge has had only two winemakers since its founding in 1978.

    The man at the helm since 2009 is Michael J. Beaulac, who has made Bordeaux-style wines at some of the most renowned properties in Napa. He was a winemaker at Markham in St. Helena, then went down to Rutherford to St. Supéry, a position that gave deepened his experience by giving him the opportunity to blend, taste, and consult on French wines, in addition to deepening his experience with excellent Napa Bordeaux varieties.

    The 2016 Pine Ridge Onyx is a culmination of it all—a spectacular Stags Leap terroir, a deft winemaker, and one of the top vintages in Napa Valley history—and I’m personally thrilled: not just that they chose Wine Access to premiere this fantastic wine, but that we’re able to share it with you. I can’t wait for you to take part!