2017 Minasa Torn Asunder Family Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 750 ml

The AVA designation for the opulent, scene-stealing 2017 Minasa Torn Asunder Family Reserve Cabernet is simply “Napa Valley” on the label. But as is often the case with labels, that’s not the whole truth.

Going by the vineyards behind this wine, the Minasa Torn Asunder is a true-blue Rutherford Cabernet, full of the dusty richness for which the sub-appellation is famed—and it’s available today for just $35. That’s a staggeringly good price for a wine this rich, balanced, and polished, and one that’s usually off-limits to bargain seekers.

Minasa doesn’t own their own vineyards, but they managed to get in with a family-operated winery that sits on Rutherford’s hallowed ground, and counts Caymus as one of their neighbors. The property is meticulously farmed and production is small: They made this ruby-hued Cabernet—which also includes a small proportion of Oakville grapes—in a tiny eight-barrel quantity.

A barrel sample proved this was stellar Napa Cab, and because we got in early, we secured a rate that no one else can match. Originally $98, our brass-knuckles negotiating got this down 64%—to only $35 per bottle, only for Wine Access Cabernet lovers. 

Packed with aromas of black fruit, violets, and Morello cherries, juicy and lined with graphite and ripe blueberries on the palate, it’s a fantastic showing from Napa’s 2017 vintage, and an unbeatable value.  

Napa is pretty darn well explored by now, even down to its nooks and crannies, but you’d be surprised what a dedicated student of terroir can still turn up. It was only a few years ago that a friend of ours—who is much in demand as a consulting viticulturist—paid a visit to the Rutherford site where most the grapes in this wine were grown. He came away so thoroughly impressed that he was still gabbing about it when he met us for dinner later that evening.

“It’s a star vineyard if I ever saw one,” he said, as he rhapsodized over the largely dry-farmed gravel-loam soils, the hillside slopes, the perfect orientation, and the crisp microclimate. “It just needs a year or two to mature.” We listened, quietly took it all in, and put in a call the next day to the family that owned the property. 

“Whenever you start producing on a commercial level, give us a call—we’ll be your first customer,” we told them. 2017 finally produced a harvest large enough for us to get a share, at a steep discount. From one of our favorite places in Napa, it’s available to you today at an extremely favorable price.