2018 O'Shaughnessy Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 750 ml

To Napa Cab insiders who have counted O’Shaughnessy as an under-the-radar superstar: Don’t blame us. Blame the 97-point Editors' Choice designation from Wine Enthusiast.

There’s no way O’Shaughnessy’s insider status can survive honors like this. The 97-point score from Enthusiast puts this 2018 Cabernet in the magazine’s top echelon, right there with The Debate, which costs $200, and within a point of Cliff Lede’s Poetry bottling, which goes for $310.

We’ve got O’Shaughnessy’s world-beating Cabernet for just $70 today. 

“This is such an outstanding wine at any price, but here we're talking about outstanding value as well,” starts Wine Enthusiast’s glowing review, while Vinous called the 2018 “a fabulous wine that overdelivers big time.” With aromas of dense berries, lilac, espresso, and mint and a layered palate framed by stern tannins, this has the regal bearing of Cabernets that go for two and three times the price. It’s a cellar-worthy Cab that will age a decade or more and blow your mind every time you open a bottle. 

O’Shaughnessy’s Cabernet Sauvignon boasts some of the most pristine vineyard pedigree we can imagine in a bottle bearing the Napa Valley label. It’s grown on O’Shaughnessy’s site in Oakville, as well as on the Howell Mountain and Mount Veeder sites they use for their prestigious AVA-labeled bottlings. In 2018, O’Shaughnessy’s Mount Veeder Cab earned 98 from Enthusiast… and it will cost you about twice as much as this one.

Aside from a lucky strike on a few magnums nearly a decade ago, O’Shaughnessy had been one of the Wine Access white whales: elusive and always on our mind. It had also been on the minds of our members, who’d long been hoping for a shot.

Last year, we scored. This year, we hit the mother lode with this 97-pointer, which is the product of patience: First arriving from the Midwest in 1990, Betty O’Shaughnessy began acquiring vineyards in some of the choicest spots in Napa Valley. First, a 32-acre Oakville plot smack-dab between PlumpJack and Groth and close to BOND’s St. Eden Vineyard. Next, a spot on wild Howell Mountain, which at the time was largely uncharted. Finally, the last pieces fell into place on Mount Veeder: 17 terraced acres on Betty’s Vineyard and 32 acres on Wools Ranch.

The vineyard sites are not the only key to O’Shaughnessy’s success. Their winemaker (and also President) Sean Capiaux started his career at Jordan, was assistant winemaker at iconic Pine Ridge in the Stags Leap District, and also worked at Peter Michael, where he absorbed lessons from the famed Mark Aubert. Now, Sean’s signature is Cabernet Sauvignon whose character and precious terroir shine through in every sip. 

This is one of the great wines to bear the O’Shaughnessy label. With these honors and at this price, it can’t last long. Here’s to you getting some!