2019 Off the Cuff Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 750 ml

It was one of the quickest decisions we’ve ever made—when a once-in-a-decade deal fell into our lap from a vintage that had critics doing cartwheels, we didn’t blink.

Collectors pay three figures for Napa Cabs from the winery behind today’s bottle, and they buy by the case. Some are speculators who expect the wines to gain serious investment value over the years. Others acquire them because they know they’re getting what they pay for: bombastically delicious, blue-chip Cabernet, boasting all the Left Bank structure you’d find in a Grand Cru Classé, but ripened with stunning mountain power. A $120 value—today, $28.

This was a surprise deal forged over FaceTime: We were in the office and the Off the Cuff winemaker in the field, sitting on the back of a tractor as the harvest we were bargaining for was still literally coming off the vineyard. On the screen behind the winemaker’s bandana-wrapped head, we could see pickers in sun hats deftly navigating the vines, filling yellow plastic bins with tiny, thick-skinned berries worth their weight in gold.

The grapes from this iconic 20-acre vineyard, 800 feet high on a cool hillside slope, are usually spoken for in advance, written into coveted, multi-year contracts modeled after those used by Beckstoffer To Kalon. But the magical 2019 growing season—“the likes of which I have never seen,” raved Vinous—proved so bountiful on the east side of Howell Mountain, the estate realized they had a bigger crop than they could handle.

When the grapes began piling up, the vineyard manager started making calls, handing out vinous golden tickets. For those not in the wine industry, let us emphasize: this never happens. Our winemaker friend, who happened to be lending a hand at the property that day, phoned us in while a competitor was on the other line.

“We’ll take everything you can spare,” we said, offering to outbid the other caller by a small margin. The quality was as advertised. Luxuriously perfumed, the 2019 Off the Cuff Cabernet lassos you right into the glass. Deep and dark, the aromatic bouquet is part professor’s study, part wild berry patch: Pencil shavings, leather, and cigar box are sumptuously matched with stewed fruits and blueberry liqueur. Big, beautiful, chocolate-y tannins ride a wave of bright acidity, rolling out to edges lined with brown sugar and oak.

Because today’s bottle doesn’t carry the label of its source, your grandchildren won’t be able to auction it off for a fortune in 30 years. But the densely textured purple liquid inside this bottle is the same one that others drop big bucks on. While today’s offer might not yield generational wealth, the deal—a fraction of the original price—is one that any market analyst would list as a must-buy.

The bottle will be gone before dessert hits the table. And today’s offer will be retired before the sun sets.