2019 Kukeri Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville 750 ml

We don’t know how he does it, but we like it—and our members would be damn glad if more winemakers followed Petar Kirilov’s lead.  

The Kukeri vintner practices small-lot Cabernet winemaking in Napa’s most expensive appellations—places where sky-high prices are commonplace—but manages to keep his bottles in the two-digit zone. 

When you think of Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon, you think of names like Plumpjack, Beckstoffer To Kalon, and so many more luminaries—nearly all of which run well into triple digits. Yet Kirilov is able to source from a vineyard behind Opus One and charge nowhere near that.

Total production of 2019 Kukeri Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon is miniscule—not even enough to fill eight barrels. We managed to talk Pete into letting us take every last bottle he had. 

Pete selects growers with extreme care. He wears out shoe leather knocking on doors of vineyard owners and pores over topo maps, climate charts, and soil reports to locate the choicest pockets of terroir.  

Today’s Cabernet comes from the prestigious Money Road neighborhood of Oakville. Located northeast of Opus One and Nickel & Nickel, it’s home to vineyards held by the likes of Swanson, Saddleback, and Laird. We’re talking ground zero for classic Oakville Cabernet, and this bottle has it all: an extraordinary aromatic intensity filled with dark berries, violets, baking spice, espresso, and cassis, leading into a hearty, sensual palate of black cherry and plum wrapped in graphite, minerals, and firm tannins.

Few can match a bottle like this dollar for dollar, and our members recognize them for the rarities they are.