2015 Rudius Wines Cabernet Sauvignon Savory Estate Vineyard Howell Mountain 750 ml

This is a Napa Cabernet collector’s dream bottle, and we’ll give you two very good reasons to jump right to the “buy” button on this 2015 Rudius Cabernet Sauvignon Savory Estate from Napa Valley’s prized Howell Mountain district: 

First, Robert Parker’s longtime critic and mentee Jeb Dunnuck awarded it 98+ points calling it a “brilliant, brilliant wine.” Second, Rudius is hands-down the best value in the realm of high-scoring Howell Mountain Cabernets of 2015. 

Lastly, offered at $110 per bottle, we have this top-scoring Napa Cab at a serious discount off SRP, coming straight from the Rudius cellars to your door. 

The minuscule 1.3-acre Savory Estate Vineyard on Howell Mountain is rooted in one of the highest-priced zip codes in Napa Valley, not very far from Cade, Ladera, and Cakebread’s Dancing Bear Ranch. It’s no wonder winemaker Jeff Ames, whose many 99-point scores keep him flirting with 100-point perfection, turned out a deeply complex Cabernet from the site. This 2015 Savory Estate release reveals black currant and mountain blueberry aromas, underscored by anise, tobacco, and sumptuous dark-berry fruits, all bolstered by firm and chiseled mountain tannins. This is a wine to buy and forget about until a few years into the 2020s. It will hit its stride by 2030.  

Winemaker Jeff Ames learned to make wine in Oregon under Lynn Penner-Ash, then in Napa with 100-point master Thomas Rivers Brown before being named winemaker at TOR at just 31 years old. And when he believed the time had come to strike out on his own, he bet big by selling his first home in Napa to raise money for Rudius Wines. It was a move that took more than confidence. It took a vision. 

That vision is now reality: As California’s historic dry spell from 2012 to 2015 produced a streak of sublime Napa vintages, Jeff Ames’s career took off. Spectator has written that Ames “has become one of Napa's rising stars,” pointing out that “Rudius is named for the wooden sword that was presented to a gladiator when freed by the emperor of Rome,” and that for Ames it represents “his mission to make wine in his own style.” 

With this in mind: Jeff, if you’re reading this, Wine Access members love your style. Please don’t change a thing.