2019 Echoes in the Canyon Oakville Red Blend 750 ml

When our COO Andrew moved to Napa, he belonged to exactly one winery mailing list. Every year, he jumped at the chance to get his hands on their Cab-dominated single-vineyard releases, which he believed to be every bit of their $185 price. And he begged us to offer their obsession-inducing velvety power to our members.

Today, that dream is a reality:We're thrilled to share the 2019 Echoes in the Canyon, a red straight from the Oakville vineyards behind one of my absolute favorite wineries. 

He hadn't exactly been shy about his love for the source behind this bottle, so when a friend of a friend caught wind that the winery had a bumper crop, word came to Andrew quickly. It was vinous gold, a bucket-list source we might not see again. 

One phone call and one poorly executed attempt to contain his excitement later, Andrew had punched Wine Access members’ ticket to an elite Oakville vineyard, and it’s nothing short of spectacular. The 2019 Echoes in the Canyon is a wine that stops you in your tracks, a lavish red boasting the kind of silky richness that you scarcely find in wines with double-digit price tags—let alone today’s price of just $30. 

The first thing he said when he tried it was “Wow.” And that’s all he said for a few minutes after. He called Master of Wine Vanessa Conlin over and told her she had to try it. More “wows” ensued. We agreed: This wine has it all, and it’s one of the finest proprietary wines we’ve ever put out. 

Gorgeously perfumed with dark fruit, mint, mocha, toast, and licorice, this wine has the power that will transfix Cab lovers, and depth that will enthrall Bordeaux collectors. A large percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon delivers a lacquered smoothness on the palate—powerful dark cherry concentration adorned by rich vanilla—while Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and a dash of Tannat deepen its complexity and imbue the wine with its satiny grace. 

As much as we'd love to offer this red every year, we're well aware that opportunities at this source are the statistical equivalent of hitting a jackpot on the first pull… and then hitting another. We recommend doing what we did—grabbing as much as you can.

We’re talking about an estate that lives and breathes excellence. Jeb Dunnuck has called their wines “borderline perfection,” and Wine Spectator said they’re at “the pinnacle of California,” with multiple placements near the top of their Top 100 lists. They’re up there with Napa’s very best, harnessing the type of cerebral complexity that we’ve captured in today’s 2019.

The vines at this site conjure grandiose concentration and velvety tannins from Oakville’s famous red dirt, the mark of icons like Dalla Valle and Screaming Eagle. At 500 to 600 feet in elevation, the vines are caressed by cool breezes and warmed by the sun, eliciting their perfect balance and structure. 

With grapes of this prestige, we didn’t hold anything back in the cellar. After fermentation with native yeasts and 14 days of malolactic fermentation, we gave the wine a long, 18-month rest in oak, where it developed its depth and rich vanilla notes. 

You’d be very hard-pressed to find more lush Oakville energy for this price anywhere else. We couldn’t be more excited to share it with you.