Notes from the Archivist

"Odyssey"

We didn’t battle a cyclops or stare down Circe on our journey to get this wine. But we did wrestle four barrels, cut from the same cloth as one of the most sought-after cult labels.

Our second entry, “Odyssey”, is a symbol of our perseverance to find the best quality. And it’s a perfect example of what makes great Rutherford Cabernet so desirable.

This has all the hallmarks of a $100-200 ultra premium Napa Cabernet but comes to you at a cult-clobbering price.

With a healthy 95 points from Decanter, and a rock bottom price makes this Rutherford Cabernet detached from reality in a way that seems unfathomable.

But dig deeper and it makes sense.

Batman has Robin. Harry has Dumbledore. And one of Napa’s most respected winemakers has his own sidekick working behind the scenes to make the magic happen.

When he’s not helping “one of the most gifted winemakers” and a “first ballot inductee” winemaker turn loose 100-pointers, he makes a very small amount of wine under his own label. They always fetch great scores – usually 94-96 points – and while they’re priced more reasonably than the big name labels he helps with, at $125 they’re still fairly pricey.

At $49 however, it’s a downright steal.

As we tasted through loads of 2023 samples. And this? It was further developed, open, and ready for business than almost anything else.

Then we saw the price, and after making sure it wasn’t missing an extra decimal point we locked down the four barrels.

This is your prototypical blockbuster Napa Cab. Fully open for business now, but built to last. Sourced from a few rows in a single coveted vineyard in Rutherford. Only eight barrels were destined for bottling from the vintage. And we secured four of them. As producers try to trim some fat, we somehow ended up with the cap from the ribeye. No complaints though.

The wine itself was raised in the always popular Taransaud and Darnajou barrels. It has all that sweet, toasty oak nicely integrated with ripe black cherry, creme de cassis, candied violets and sweet walnut. A kiss of fresh saddle leather, Madagascar vanilla, and baking spices carry through the finish. Compared to the first release, which showed a more austere, traditional, and structured build, this one is much more of that flashy, sexy, polished style that makes the crowd go wild.

Considering it’s a 1:1 dupe from the source, at our price it’s a fantastic buy.

95 points – Decanter

“Superbly perfumed, with lovely notes of rose petal and violet, sweet cassis and blackberry preserves, all wrapped in toasty oak and fine dark chocolate. Full-bodied, with fine-grained tannins and a real purity to the fruit. The finish is long, with a distinctly salty, mineral edge. Classically built, with loads to love.”