2017 Cosmologist Cabernet Sauvignon Sonoma County 750 ml

“Hold up, I think I get biodynamics. It’s like brown M&Ms,” said one of our VIP clients in Sonoma. We just stared at him.

We were in the middle of a 200-acre vineyard in Sonoma County known for its limited-production 95+ point Cabs that sell out immediately on release. It’s one of the few sites outside Napa that’s known for luring 100-point consultants outside the Napa’s borders,  and one whose Cabs Robert Parker has called “terrific, full-throttle, beautifully balanced and pure.” 

We were there with the vineyard manager Andy, and one of our favorite Food & Wine Winemakers of the Year, who serves as the estate’s consultant. We’d just poured the showpiece we’d hiked the vineyard for, the 2017 Cosmologist Cabernet Sauvignon. Cosmologist shares the same voluptuous elegance, concentration, minerality, and mountain spice as the $175 estate wines made from those vines, which Robert Parker has called “Cabernets that deserve serious attention.” Coming from the most meticulously farmed parcel in that same vineyard, we’ve got this Cabernet at over 80% off the standard retail for wines from this estate.

Tinged with unmistakable Alexander Valley spice and minerality, the M&M’s comment seemed even more absurd. But Andy had just explained biodynamics, the farming methodology which blends organics with the biodiversity of the land surrounding the vineyard, and follows cosmic cycles for planting and harvesting—as the ancients did—based on the position of the moon, planets, and stars. To the uninitiated, biodynamics can sound like a lot like mysticism. To us, it signifies the extreme detail and care bestowed upon every last inch of a vineyard, and in the 2017 Cosmologist that attention to detail is palatable. 

Our client, a nine-time Grammy award winner with over 125 million albums sold, went on: In the 1980s, Van Halen infamously required bowls of M&M's backstage at their concerts, demanding all brown ones be removed. People assumed it was a weird superstition or run-of-the-mill rock star ridiculousness, but front-man David Lee Roth later revealed how the stipulation—buried deep in the rider—was a test to determine how thoroughly the contract had been reviewed. If brown M&Ms were in the bowl, it meant the promoter may have missed more critical small details, which foretold possibly dangerous problems with the stage set-up.
 
“So biodynamics is like the brown M&M rule. Whether or not all the astrological woo-woo makes scientific sense, it forces Andy to pay a zillion times closer attention to the vineyard than he’d need to with a regular farming contract. Which is why his Cab is so awesome.”
 
Actually…yeah.

But the 2017 Cosmologist Cabernet Sauvignon had a lot going for it even before we knew it shared the same farming method as the world’s top estates, like Pontet-Canet, Cristal Champagne, and Domaine Leroy. Bursting with energy right out the gate, its primary fruit flavors of blackberry, plum, and cassis were as vibrant, juicy, and articulated as what you’d find at a late summer farmers market. Muscular, classic Cabernet tannins built through the minerally mid-palate into an impressively well-integrated finish, which lingered for almost a full minute with luxurious hints of mocha and cedar.

As we tasted Andy’s wine, we let fade to the background his rapid-fire talk of herbal remedies and buried cow-horns, and watched our client’s eyebrows raise in awe. He wasn’t alone. We too recognized the unmistakable verve that’s a hallmark of great Cabernet Sauvignon. 
 
Assuming this was one of their consultant’s super-allocated Cabs from the estate, we asked which one it was. Suddenly shy, Andy smiled, revealing a pretty snazzy label we’d never seen, where “Cosmologist” was prominently displayed. “This is actually my wine. I am the Cosmologist.”

Apparently, the estate winery had been tentative about the expense and labor that biodynamics would require, so Andy and our friend cordoned off a small section of their vineyard to use as a test pilot. The winery’s marketing plan has yet to position it, so Andy was able to buy the 2017 fruit for pennies and bottle it under his own eponymous-ish label.
 
Long story short, we took it all. And while our VIP client did get first dibs on his cases, we’re thrilled to offer the exclusive on what remains from Andy the Cosmologist. Snap it up—once those Alexander Valley marketing minds get wise, you can bet this will be the last time you see this killer biodynamic Cab under this label—and more importantly, at this incredible price.