2021 Kukeri Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 750 ml

Wine Access members go crazy for every Kukeri offer, and when we took a sip of their 2021 Napa Valley Cab, we were immediately reminded why. With brooding, mountain-bred aromas of blackberry and plum announcing a voluptuous palate dominated by dark fruit and spice, it was a Cabernet dream. 

Even more impressive, the wine comes from winemaker Petar Kirilov’s top sources, including the Truchards in Oak Knoll and another small family vineyard sitting at 1,500 feet on the eastern slope of Atlas Peak.

Kirilov’s specialty is single-AVA Cabernet from some of the most prestigious regions in the Valley: Calistoga, Oakville, Rutherford, and especially the mountain appellations like Atlas Peak, Mount Veeder, Howell Mountain, and Spring Mountain—and his loyal mailing list is happy to pay up to $105 for one of these beautifully crafted Cabernets. But winery-only sales tend to go bottle by bottle, and for a boutique operation like Kukeri, the chance to get the word out to a fervent group of Cab lovers like the Wine Access faithful is akin to our asking for this allocation—impossible to resist.

Fortunately, not all of the grapes that Kirilov procures from his top vineyard sources are earmarked for his single-appellation wines—the rest goes into this Napa Valley bottling. The mountain fruit combines with the Cabernet from the valley floor to produce a wine whose beautifully balanced lush fruit is bolstered by a sturdy frame. Polished by 20 months in barrel (20% in American oak and the rest in French oak, of which 40% is new) it’s drinking beautifully right now but has the structure to last at least another five years in the cellar.