2016 Redwood Hill Cabernet Sauvignon Redwood Hill Vineyard Fountaingrove District Sonoma County 750 ml

Our last offer from the mountain winery Redwood Hill, a powerful 2016 red blend, sold out almost immediately. Within hours of our inventory emptying, we were on the phone with winemaker Randall Watkins, working to craft another deal to meet the surge of demand from our members. The fruits of that conversation are on offer today at an incredible value—an under-$35 California Cab deal as big as the hills it hails from.

A small, family-run estate perched in the brushy heights of the Mayacamas Mountains, Redwood Hill has specialized in producing very limited amounts of sumptuous, high-altitude wines. Total production caps at around 500 cases a year, almost all of that set aside for the loyal mailing list, keeping this place something of a hidden treasure.  

But on the strength of our last offer, we were able to pry a few more cases away from the winning 2016 class, arriving at our warehouse just a few days ago. We couldn’t be more pleased to be offering Redwood Hill’s majestic, estate-grown Cabernet Sauvignon, after its spectacular mountain tannins had our judging panel gushing with praise. Velvety and smooth in texture, espresso-coated berries dance around a cassis and red cherry core, resolving into an incredibly lengthy finish tinged with forest floor.

This one’s as big and ripe as they come, but with the rare bargain price that made our first offer a sell-out.

Winemaker Randall Watkins has been in the business since he was a kid on his dad’s ranch, and became renowned for his work at critically acclaimed spots like Laurel Glen and Hartford Family Winery. He’s a master of pushing Cabernet to the furthermost edge of its comfort zone, where just enough water and nutrients force the vines into producing tiny berries with thick skins, radiant with color and packed with flavor.

The grapes for this wine are grown on Redwood Hill’s estate vineyard at up to 1,400 feet in elevation. Above the fog line, vines bask in sunshine while the high-altitude breezes maintain firm acidity to balance out all that big, briary mountain concentration. 2016’s superb growing season stayed cool, driving intensity and complexity during maturation. Yields were low, but the resulting fruit was the stuff of Randall’s dreams.

Cabernets this good don’t often come at prices like this one; indeed, these are among the dwindling last bottles of Redwood Hill’s supply. If our last offer is any indication, they won’t be here for long.