2023 Bonus Track Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 750 ml

It was one of the most highly-anticipated vertical tastings we’d attended in years.

An iconic Rutherford estate, with a history dating back to the 1960s, would be allowing a rare glimpse into their vaunted archives, tasting us and a select few other industry leaders across twenty-plus vintages.

In the sedate backroom of a booked-out Napa chophouse, we’d taste famous (and expensive) Cabernets: the Reserves regularly run to $300 per bottle and their greatest cuvée tops out at $800. “Immensely hedonistic” is the kind of language Wine Advocate regularly uses to describe these Napa giants from the Silverado Trail—and this tasting was as epic as they come.

That mystery stayed in the back of our mind as we sailed through the powerhouses of the 2000s, increasingly seamless with age, and dug into the more restrained but intensely rich and aromatic 2010s. When we got to the 2020s, we realized there was an anomaly…there was both a 2023 and a 2023-A.

“This is something that has never happened before in our estate’s decades-long history,” the vintner explained. “The 2023 is the official vintage release—the wine our mailing list members received and critics rated. But that vintage proved so terrific, our team couldn’t help but strike upon a second blend—unreleased to the public, yet in many ways just as pure an expression of our house’s style.”

In a line-up of priceless gems, something about this glass immediately captured our imagination—and palate. Plush, voluminous and sexy, it stood for a second direction, an unrealized future. Topped up with notes of cedar bark and forest herbs, we kept coming back to this glass again again—and before we knew it, it was empty. We needed to script an alternate ending.

Over a palate-cleansing Pilsner, we huddled with the winemaker after the tasting at the crowded bar. These days, Napa wineries—even the best of them—are eager to turn inventory into cash. That economic reality helped us land a SONG of a deal on a wine that would normally be going for multiples of this price.

With the magical 2023-A encased in an NDA label, their winemaking team won’t get credit for a wine that both they and we share a deep affection for. But thanks to this smashing deal, one of the great untold stories of this historic vintage is out in the open—and up for grabs.