2017 Beringer Knights Valley Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Knights Valley 750 ml

It wasn’t even close.

Beringer’s massive, iconic Knights Valley Reserve was not just our top-selling Cabernet, but our top-selling wine of the first half of 2020. And not long after the first cases of this classic shipped out, the five-star member reviews started rolling in: 

“Delicious. Drinks like a $100 wine.”

“Excellent wine!”

“The problem for me was not buying far more than one case. I am now searching for more. I was so excited when it arrived that we opened one up right away, looked at each other, and said ‘wow’ this is amazing.”

We’re thrilled to announce that as of this very moment, the Beringer Knights Valley Reserve is back. Boasting 93 points from both James Suckling and Vinous, the 2017 shows Beringer’s exquisite Cabernet provenance, and comes with the same kind of savings as last year.

We had friends texting us for months after the last offer, asking if we could score them more. The answer was no, and we’ll tell them exactly what we’re telling you now: For anyone who wants to stock up or re-up on an undisputed California Cabernet classic from a true icon, this is your chance. And it might be the only one you get.

When we took our first sip, we were as blown away as previous buyers were by Beringer’s regal Cabernet: a ruby-black wine boasting tons of black currant, blackberry, and spiced red plum, accented with Knights Valley’s wild sage, dark chocolate, pipe tobacco, and faint olive tones. The palate is ripe and full, with fine-grained tannins and a rich mouthfeel sliding into a finish that lingers and lingers. Drinking beautifully now, it will improve over the next decade and a half.

Mark Beringer, the great-great-grandson of one of the brothers who co-founded the estate, took the helm as winemaker in 2015, and immediately wrote himself into the winery’s legacy with his dazzlingly supple Cabernet. It’s fitting that he was eager to work with Knights Valley grapes—Beringer was the pioneer and trendsetter in this northeastern tip of Sonoma, farming vineyards since the early 1960s, long before Peter Michael began making 99-point wines off these rolling bucolic hills. 

Returning to the same vineyards his family first cultivated generations ago, Mark showed his complete mastery of the house style that has twice earned Beringer Wine of the Year honors from Wine Spectator. A barrel selection from the best plots, polished in about 50% new French oak, the 2017 has taken on a voluminous mouthfeel and wonderfully integrated structure. In fact, we think if a bottle like this one bore a Napa Valley label, it’d be going for $200. 

Beringer’s Knights Valley vines see the warmest temperatures in Sonoma, but also dramatic temperature variations, which means refreshingly cool nights and long growing seasons. Diverse soils, from rocky alluvial hillsides to volcanic ash, lend this Cabernet its complexity through the lifted, herbal finish.

Robert Parker has praised Beringer’s wines as “exceptionally impressive.” Mark is continuing that streak with this outstanding Knights Valley Cabernet from family-owned vineyards that are part and parcel of the Beringer name. It’s back for now—but if history’s any guide, it won’t be back for long.