2023 The Ringer Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 750 ml

“We can still mention your recent 100-point score, right?”

We’d settled on a price for the wine from the legendary house, but we were still hammering out the details about what information we could use—or mostly couldn’t use—to describe the estate.

After all, the winery that produced today’s 2023 The Ringer is an icon, and its bottles grace the cellars of the most astute collectors of blue-chip Napa. They sell tiny quantities of their top wine to a locked-down mailing list, and if word got out that we had some of their juice for $30… no bueno.

So of course we couldn’t mention the name of their legendary consulting winemaker—a guy with a studio full of 100-point scores, who’s shepherded this project since its early days, when both he and the estate were practically unknown. 

As for the location? “Hillside” is all the estate’s GM said we could say. 

So the vineyards are on hills. Where? We can’t say that, but it’s some pretty pricey dirt.

Ultimately, though, we can very much describe what’s in the bottle—a wine that reminds us that the phrase “cult Cabernet” should only be applied to a very small class of exceptionally pedigreed producers. Like this one.

Deep garnet in color, it’s got bold aromas of crushed blackberries, graphite, violet, and espresso. The palate is plush and structured, showcasing layers of ripe cassis, black cherry, and dark chocolate framed by fine-grained tannins and a backbone of fresh acidity. It’s a Cab that truly shows off the quality of the terroir and winemaking team.