2017 Piece of Work Cabernet Sauvignon Sonoma County 750 ml

We met our friend Timothy at his house in Oakville for what we thought was a casual Wednesday night potluck.  

“Before you look at any of the fancy stuff on the table over there,” Timothy said, waving at the table covered in top-scoring bottles that his friends (some of Napa’s top winemakers) had brought for dinner. “Check out this Cab. It’s a fifth of the price, and just as good.”

Aromas of wild plums, mixed berries, and allspice filled the air. On the palate, an explosion of ripe fruit etched with generous oak spice was held in check by beautifully structured tannins.

“The vineyard source is top-secret,” he said, “and their wines run close to $200 each.” He then paused for effect. “But if I told you that I could get you the hook-up on it for less than $25 a bottle, do you think your members would be into it?”

Timothy had struck again. As proprietor of a critically lauded cult winery, and frequent collaborator with one of the world’s most in-demand winemakers, the man who connected us with member-favorite Hidden Ridge winery is as plugged-in as anyone in California. Yet even by his ridiculously high standards, Timothy had outdone himself.

This effusive Cab was grown on a legendary vineyard in Sonoma’s Geyserville, where his winemaker also works. Bottles labeled from there go for $150 and up... if you can buy them before they sell out. When the winemaker mentioned in passing that there was a bit of extra fruit that just didn’t quite fit into the 2017 blend, Timothy told him that he’d buy it on the spot, no questions asked.

It was the kind of brilliant snap decision that’s made Timothy such a legend. The amphitheater-shaped vineyard where it was grown, perched above Alexander Valley, is farmed organically, has a view to die for, and has earned stratospheric scores for wines that top critics have called “graceful,” “elegant,” and “dense.”

This one is no different, except in one important way: price. Because wine like this should cost close to five times as much, and at dinner that night at Timothy’s house—even as we drank every last high-priced bottle that his winemaker friends had brought—all we really kept thinking about was the one he’d snuck us when we’d first come in. Now, it’s your turn to discover the magic of this rare wine, too.