2016 Idiosyncrasy Cabernet Sauvignon Atlas Peak Napa Valley 750 ml

We were itching to sell this wine from the moment we set foot on the rocky vineyard, 1,600 feet above sea level. If we could have written this offer from the wood-plank porch of the estate that afternoon, we would have.

At just $30, this is one of the best values you’ll find off Atlas Peak, an appellation known as much for its forbidding, high-altitude terroir as its stratospheric prices. Crafted by 99-point winemaker and Napa star Julien Fayard, the quality of the powerhouse mountain fruit and Fayard’s consummate skill should place this at $175. That’s what you’d pay if you found this bottle on the shelf.

Yet we’re offering the 2016 Idiosyncracy for less than a quarter of that price, thanks to an NDA agreement. This is a high-definition mountain Cabernet, with its dusty tannins, pervasive acidity, and exuberant mix of blueberry, violets, and sweet crème de cassis rendered in crystalline, fluid clarity.

We were originally set to showcase this bottle in conjunction with the Taste of Atlas Peak event in September. But with events getting canceled left and right, the calendar team gave in to our plea to put it in the hands of Wine Access Cabernet die-hards sooner. This is an exclusive for our members—the only way we could pull off these incredible terms.

Up here, above the fog line and a few miles off the Silverado Trail, power and concentration are table stakes. It’s what a winemaker does with all that exuberance, how they shape and sculpt it, that makes Atlas Peak’s wines endlessly interesting. Especially when we can get a half-case or more of a complex mountain value stunner like this one, we love bringing up a bottle every few years to see how it’s evolving, growing leonine with age.

Working with the estate’s viticultural team—which has included veterans of Bordeaux First Growth estates like Château Latour—Fayard chiseled elegance and classical structure out of grapes grown on red, volcanic soils, rich with iron. It should serve as a blueprint to younger winemakers learning how to lasso big mountain tannins.

The sun bathes the eastern face of the mountain with light, while breezes counteract the heat to make sure ripening doesn’t go off the charts. The berries develop thicker skins, meaning more intense, concentrated flavors and aromas. Gentle extraction and 22 months in 25% new French oak give the wine focus and bold lines and contours.

Open this bottle up, take in the big, cedar-bracketed mountain fruit smoothed to a glossy sheen, and you’ll see why we couldn’t wait to share it.