2019 In Sheep's Clothing Cabernet Sauvignon Columbia Valley 750 ml

As a sommelier at The French Laundry and head sommelier at Per Se, André Hueston Mack trained his palate on the world’s most coveted wines: Grand Cru Burgundies, First Growth Bordeaux, cult Napa Cabernets.

As a winemaker, he dropped the three-piece suit and MICHELIN-star digs to dirty his hands in some of the greatest soils in America. And for his In Sheep’s Clothing Cabernet, he tapped the gravelly slopes of Washington State’s revered Columbia Valley.

For the 2019 release, he sourced 60% of the grapes from Washington’s Red Mountain AVA, the sweltering appellation that produces awesomely dark and muscular Cabernet. The rest comes from the Wahluke Slope AVA, also among the warmest in the region, where vines tested by the bone-dry climate yield intense grapes whose flavors will light up every taste bud on your tongue.

Mack is a bit of a celebrity in the wine world, and he knows that luxury-level substance isn’t always tied to a luxe package. When he worked at The French Laundry, the champagne cooler was still kept in the chef’s garage, and bottles of Krug rested on corroded metal racks that left rust flakes on his suit jacket.

That ability to move between worlds—from fine-dining temples to garagiste warehouses—gave rise to this label’s name, inspired by a line from the movie Training Day: “To protect the sheep, you gotta catch the wolf, and it takes a wolf to catch a wolf.”

Ten months of aging in 25% new French oak provides a glossiness that helps tame this brooding beast. It’s a triumph of Washington winemaking, made by a savant who knows blue-chip bottles like few others do.