2018 Giving Kitchen Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 750 ml

With La Pelle, Screaming Eagle, and Atelier Melka on his resume, Maayan Koschitzky has made some of Napa Valley’s most exclusive Cabernets—but we’ve never seen him more excited about sharing a wine than when he walked in with the 2018 Giving Kitchen Cabernet Sauvignon.

So we grabbed our glasses and let him pour, and it didn’t take more than one sip to remind us of why he’s one of the most in-demand talents in Napa Valley. The wine exudes first-class Napa Cab quality, from the ripe blue and blackberry aromas touched with mocha, vanilla, and pie spice, to the full body that finishes with super-fine tannins carrying toasted oak, cinnamon, and chocolate. It’s exactly what we expect from a winemaker whose limited releases fly into collectors’ cellars at $200+ per bottle. 

This stellar Cab is sourced from iconic vineyards in Oakville and Coombsville, and shows why Maayan was named one of Wine Enthusiast’s 40 under 40 Tastemakers. So after we finished marveling at the wine, we asked him about his inspiration. 

That’s when he got really animated, and within minutes, we were as excited about this wine as Maayan is. Since $2 of every bottle of GK Cabernet sold goes directly to Giving Kitchen, he was able to pull serious strings, and craft a Cab from top sites in Oakville and Coombsville for a song. Today is the first time in history this wine is available outside of the state of Georgia or Maayan’s home. 

Founded in Atlanta in 2012, Giving Kitchen’s mission is to provide emergency assistance to food service workers in crisis. Since the wine and restaurant worlds are so closely intertwined, we at Wine Access feel a deep kinship with restaurant workers. And since so many on our team cut their teeth on the restaurant floor, we know how tough things can be when that work disappears. 

“When you get jammed up, we’re here to help,” is how GK founder and board member Chris Hall sums up Giving Kitchen. Their official tagline is “Our shift starts when theirs can’t,” which means that when a restaurant worker is in need, GK helps in two ways: through financial assistance, and what they call their “Stability Network”: resource referrals, counseling, access to food during Covid-19, housing help, legal services, and anything else that a restaurant worker in a tough spot might need. 

When Giving Kitchen got the idea to make their own wine, they immediately connected with Maayan, who leapt on board: “The goal was to make a great wine first,” Maayan told us. “A great product, with a great goal behind it.” 

Given Maayan’s connections, they went to the right man. He tapped vineyard sources in Oakville and Coombsville, two of Napa Valley’s most prestigious AVAs. The 2018 consists of 94% Cabernet Sauvignon with a little Petit Verdot and Malbec, aged for 22 months in 55% new French oak, and bottled unfined and unfiltered. 

This is top-notch Napa Cabernet, coming from one of the Valley’s most in-demand winemakers, and going to one of the best causes we can imagine. Never has it been so affordable to drink so great while doing so much good.