We were approached recently by one of the mainstay families of the wine business who, having recently divested themselves of their last winery (over the years they have built and sold several), were keeping their Oak Knoll vineyards and contemplating their own “virtual” brand. Sidetracked by a growing wine barrel business, they offered us the wines provided we buy as much cabernet as we buy merlot.

No problem we say, let’s taste the wines…well you all know what comes next…we loved the wines, blah, blah, blah, bought them all, etc., etc. Luckily for you, we bought these last December when prices were vastly lower than they are in today’s environment. Current pricing would put this wine closer to $18 under our program and $35-40 under other folks.

Lot 75 2006 Oak Knoll District, Napa Valley Cabernet ($13) hails from the new Oak Knoll District of Napa Valley. Given “District” status in 2004, Oak Knoll is located just south of the Yountville District and, as such, is considered the coolest climate is Napa next to Carneros. To read more about the district please click here and for an at-a-glance map of all Napa Valley’s appellations click here. Oak Knoll is HOT, but not in the temperature sense, and much like its neighbor to the east, Coombsville/Tulocay, is seeing greatly increased demand for grapes but not from the big guys; rather, demand in Oak Knoll is from small winemakers crafting elegantly powerful expressions of Napa Cabernet.

Again, the style here is more iron fist/velvet glove than Betty Boop and Lot 75 reflects those same values. Made in a high-end custom crush facility from perfectly ripe 2006 fruit (great vintage– click here for more on 2006 harvest in Napa) Lot 75 saw only about 33% new French Oak and is more an expression of fruit elegance than oak. The tannins are well integrated into the wine which is extremely well-structured and, like Lot 35, well built for the cellar.

In comparison to Lot 35, I would say this is the superior wine from a better vintage combining more up front fruit and better overall musculature (about a point higher in Alcohol at 14.5%). Purple fruits on the nose with more chocolate and mocha/espresso flavors on the palate. The wine is huge structurally with a long, sustained finish despite being tightly wound. A bit more open at this stage than Lot 35, Lot 75 probably has more in common with Lot 73 off of Chalk Hill. Just coming out to play, this wine has a long life ahead of it.

Ummm… did I mention this wine happens to be an EXCEPTIONAL VALUE? No way in heck you are gonna find cabernet this good for $13. Speaking of awesome deals, our good friends at Costco will have this wine available to them. I know some has already hit San Diego and should be soon hitting NorCal and LA regions. I am sure Texas will get their share (though there never seems to be enough Cabernet for Texas) and hopefully Illinois as well.

Stay tuned as well for our Lot 94 2006 Oak Knoll Merlot to be released here in a few weeks.