2020 Halpin Red Wine Knights Valley Sonoma County 750 ml

It was 9:02 a.m. We’d barely turned on the coffee machine when Halpin strode into our office and dropped a case of wine on the table with a thud.

“Good morning to you too,” we said. Then we flipped our head toward the table. “What have we here?”

“Shiners,” he said. “The real deal. From an estate with as many 100-point scores as most people—but not my buddy Trevor back in Philly, woodshop mishap—have fingers,” he said. He yanked one of the unlabeled bottles out and was twisting his corkscrew in before we had a chance to say a word. Halfway in the office kitchen, we passed on the coffee cups for some Riedel stems. 

“Shiners,” he added, peering over the top of his sunglasses, “that do not exist.”

In Sonoma and Napa, reputation and status is everything. The top estates are as loath to see their wares repurposed as Hermès is to see a Birkin bag end up on discount. And yet the reality is, even legendary brands sometimes need a release valve for extra supply.

That was how Halpin ended up standing before us with bottles that, a few weeks ago, might have sold for $240 each!! Remove the label—and add the help of a master fixer like Halpin—and you pay a FRACTION of that cost for a sumptuous Sonoma Red from an estate that’s made numerous appearances in the elite top 10 of Wine Spectator’s Top 100 list.

And the stuff in the bottle? As we learned that morning—while Halpin glanced around furtively—it fully lives up to this winery’s iconic status. What a find. Classic Halpin.