2017 Trig Point Cabernet Sauvignon Diamond Dust Vineyard Alexander Valley 750 ml

Everyone needs a good go-to Cabernet: an everyday bottling abundantly stocked in the cellar, overperforming yet easy on the wallet, capable of impressing dinner guests but also perfect for just kicking back and sipping on the porch.

If you have the kind of Cab standards we do, it’s a tall order, actually—which is why we expect the 2017 Trig Point Cabernet Sauvignon Diamond Dust Vineyard to go very fast.

Crafted by Wine Access friend and Simi veteran Nick Goldschmidt, this 2017 release is “a pretty astonishing Sonoma cabernet for the price,” says Wine & Spirits in a glowing 92-point review. Gaining depth from the wine’s “sumptuous fruit,” Goldschmidt’s single-vineyard bottling is “formidable and graceful.”

For a package that impressive to come in at $20 is extraordinary. It’s thanks only to years of friendship with Nick—a fixture of the Alexander Valley scene for over two decades—that we were able to carve out a deal so favorable for our members.

Located along the Mayacamas range running through Napa from Mt. Veeder, Diamond Dust boasts the same dirt as you’d find in Diamond Mountain, Spring Mountain and Mt. Veeder. Perhaps that’s why Wine & Spirits noted that its “rush of tannins” are “more like those of mountain-grown fruit than benchland.” Facing southeast and situated in a bowl, the old, low-vigor vines are protected from winds, while daily fog and gravelly loam soils nurse grapes to rich, full-bodied concentration.

Give it 20 minutes (or about the time it takes to get the grill started) to breathe, and you’ll be greeted with focused, lip-smacking notes of cherry compote and cranberry fruit and aromas of high-toned red berries laced with graphite notes. Sleek and supple on the palate with fine-grained tannins and an opulent mix of sweet oak, licorice, cola, and brown spice seasoning, this is about as easy-drinking and approachable as Cabernet gets. For the price and quality, it’s irresistible—a two case buy, if you can manage it.

In the quarter-century that Goldschmidt has been making wine in Alexander Valley, he has headed up winemaking at Simi, Gary Farrell, and a host of other top estates, not to mention his own eponymous label. Experience has made him an expert at negotiating great deals on grapes with growers, and his time over at Simi allowed him to establish long-term agreements with some of the best vineyards in Alexander Valley. That’s how he managed to get the pedigreed fruit of Diamond Dust vineyard into an under-$20 bottle.

In the southern quadrant of the AVA extended hang time makes for harvests that often stretch into the last week of October, without spikes in sugar. Nick says 2017 made for some of the smallest berries he’s ever seen—lower in yields, but absolutely packed with flavor. Aged 18 months in tight-grain American, French, and Hungarian oak, this is the go-to Cabernet we’ve been waiting a long time for.