2014 G Cellars Mountains Reserve Napa Valley 750 ml

Fans of Hidden Ridge and Opus One Will Love This

Fans of Hidden Ridge, Opus One, Cliff Lede and Stag’s Leap—this is for you, and for lovers of true insider Napa discoveries. Today’s offer comes to us by wonderful happenstance and is about as “insider” a wine as they come—good thing we discovered it well-ahead of the curve. We were at Compline, the hottest new wine bar in Napa for a recent midday repast, and bumped into a GM from a top-flight winery. As is custom, we sent her some of what we were drinking, and she returned the favor.

What showed up in our glass was a showstopper, expertly guided by 100-point winemaker Tim Milos: the 2014 G Cellars Mountains Reserve from Napa Valley—a linebacker of a red on the palate, broad-shouldered and full of ripe fruit, but showing a long finish full of dense, chewy tannins and warm black fruits, courtesy of exceptional vines on Mt. Veeder, Howell Mountain and a dollop of fruit sourced from Vineyard 7&8 on Spring Mountain. Just over 5 barrels were produced, and we secured the lion’s share. Released at $85, just $69.99 per bottle on 3 or more, with shipping included on just 2.

G Cellars is by definition under-the-radar—so much so that even we hadn’t heard of it. And we were happy to learn that it’s not just a vanity bottling or some sort of proto version of a ”New Screagle” that’s already asking north of $300 a bottle. No, the talent behind this label is pure pedigree: Produced by Garret Ahnfeldt, a second-generation Napa Valley grower, with assistance from the one and only Tim Milos. By now Wine Access clients are quite familiar with Milos’ work—he’s the perfect-scoring winemaker behind stellar vintages of Opus One, Stag’s Leap, Cliff Lede, and Hidden Ridge.

The G Cellars Mountain reserve is a powerfully structured red with fruit from Mt. Veeder, Spring Mountain, and Howell Mountain. In his peerless fashion, Milos instructed Garret how to coax tremendous elegance and finesse out the structurally massive mountain fruit. Never sent for review, only offered to Garret’s mailing list and wherever he could land a placement in Napa Valley, this is your ticket to an insider beauty from a winemaker who is sure to make waves. Get in now.