2018 Kukeri Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain Napa Valley 750 ml

This missive doesn’t come to you from the manicured rows of Napa Valley, where the sun is warming up bunches of inky Cabernet Sauvignon cradled by cool morning fog. Instead, it comes from the jagged peaks of Howell Mountain, where the sun is already bearing down on the vines behind this powerful, authoritative, and indulgent Cabernet Sauvignon. 

This mountaintop terroir lends grapevines an entirely different life than those that grow comfortably in the fertile soils of the Valley floor. The vines’ struggle yields some of the valley’s most cherished, long-lived, prestigious, and expensive wines. 

But between the blocks criss-crossing Howell Mountain’s jagged peak are hidden values, like Wine Access member-favorite Kukeri’s Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon. Our now-very-good friend and winemaker Petar Kirilov eschews the million-dollar views a tasting room would offer in exchange for value—allowing us to offer dense, deeply fruited, and powerful wines like the ‘18 Kukeri for $45.

This is a wine that doesn’t require vineyard history, Cellar Tracker homework, or a long explanation to enjoy. It’s pure high-quality indulgence in a glass. In one sip, we were reminded of why Wine Access members went crazy for our first Kukeri offer. Brooding mountain-bred aromas of black and blue fruit and licorice announce a voluptuous palate dominated by blackberry compote, cassis, and black olive tapenade. Seasoned with intertwining cedar and vanilla spice and structured by well-integrated tannins, it’s a Cabernet dream—one that just got better when our medium-rare ribeyes hit the table. 

We asked for an allocation immediately. Pete only made nine barrels of this inky red, which bottles Napa’s signature mountain power accented by wild, untamed herbs and fierce, cellar-worthy tannins. We secured half of the production—still just a modest 88 cases—exclusively for the Wine Access Cabernet literati who have shown unparalleled love for Pete’s Kukeri wines: They’ve overwhelmed our member-services team with calls, and posted perfect 5-star reviews like “amazing depth for the price,” “will buy again!”  and “One of the best drink-now wines I have ever had.”

Pete’s specialty is single-AVA Cabernet from some of the most prestigious regions in the Valley: Calistoga, Oakville, Rutherford, and especially the mountain AVAs like Atlas Peak, Mount Veeder, Howell Mountain, and Spring Mountain—and his loyal mailing list is happy to pay up to $105 for the experience of sipping these beautifully crafted Cabernets. But winery-only sales tend to go bottle-by-bottle, and for a boutique operation like Kukeri, the chance to get the word out to a fervent group of Cabernet lovers like the Wine Access faithful is kind of like our asking for this allocation—impossible to resist.

We were sure our first Kukeri Cabernet offer was a one-and-done steal, but then fate gave us a break. We didn’t miss our chance to ask about this allocation, so don’t miss your chance to claim a share of our four barrels.