2012 Vineyard 29 Aida Cabernet Sauvignon St Helena 750 ml

We’ve been enraptured by Vineyard 29’s extravagantly ripe Aida Estate Vineyard Cabernet for years—but the elites of Hollywood and Silicon Valley always got to this tiny-production cult favorite before we did.

Not today. We cut the line by skipping back in time, unearthing a pristine library release that’s matured to utter perfection after eight years in bottle: the velvety-soft, gorgeously chiseled 2012 Aida. At 20% off the list price and crafted by a 100-point winemaker, this is the stuff Napa collectors’ dreams are made of.

In a memorable 97-point review, Robert Parker all but guaranteed that the average wine consumer would have no shot of landing this wine (just 850 cases were made) from a historic single vineyard. “The 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon Aida Estate is sensational and about as profound as Napa Cabernet can be,” wrote the critic who’s considered by many to be the last word in Napa Cabs.

This may not be for everyone. But if you like your Cabernet like melted rock, flamboyantly opulent and bursting at the seams with blackberry preserves and espresso beans, lock in this incredibly rare offer today. Napa exists to produce blockbusters like this one.

In 2000, Chuck and Anne McMinn purchased this St. Helena stronghold, and a three-acre vineyard that had recently been planted with Grace Family cuttings by renowned viticulturist David Abreu. Almost coincidentally, the McMinns pulled the trigger a second time, securing one of the most coveted, rocky sites in primetime Saint Helena, the famed Aida Vineyard. Then Chuck put in a call to Philippe Melka, the Bordeaux émigré who is thought in some circles to be the most talented Cabernet-maker this side of Château Latour.

Melka tends to stay out of the limelight, making what he’s accomplished all the more extraordinary when you see the long list of outstanding estates and bottles he’s touched on one sheet. His work with Bryant Family, Dalla Valle, Constant, Seavey, and Vineyard 29 has netted him multiple 100-point scores and a reputation as a supreme stylist.

The Aida Vineyard, legendary for its opulence, fits Melka like a glove. Parker himself has remarked: “I find the winemaking approach much more suitable to the estate’s Aida vineyard, a warm, early maturing site that tends towards richness.”

Prized for grape-growing since the 1920s, it was from this site that Larry Turley produced some of his most famous Zinfandels. Under the McMinn regime, the focus is on Cabernet, thriving in the warm microclimate and well-draining hillsides. 

Reminiscent of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, the floor of the site is littered with stones that absorb heat and transfer energy and ripeness into the grapes. The root systems struggle to find purchase and water in these soils, driving plants to focus on producing magnificently concentrated fruit.

The 2012 vintage elevated these conditions, resulting in a truly bombastic wine with over 20 years of aging potential. Landing a library release of this pedigree is like sneaking into the Vineyard 29 cellar and grabbing the bottle of your choice. Don’t miss your shot at a Napa immortal.