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Fresh off the Truck: Wine Access 2018 Commission Napa Cab [$650 for $35?]
Wednesday, November 18, 2020
4 bottles of the 2018 Commission Cab arrived today and I wasted no time cracking a bottle open. Does it drink more like the $650 grape source it came from -or- the $30-$35 price tag it carries?
2018 Wine Access Commission Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
Direct Link [now sold out in many regions]
$30-$35/btl
15.2% Alcohol
The markings of prior Wine Access NDA bottlings are here. A generic "2018" cork. The 15.2% alcohol level. Pleasant-but-reserved-at-this-point aromatics. Insanely high density [that's difficult to emulate at this price point] with mouth-filling tannins you can literally chew on. Yet the finish is just a bit hollow with a strangely/slightly bitter aftertaste not present in the Yesterday Cabs.
89/100 WWP: Very Good
I've had a few bottles of both the Yesterday Cabs and I'd say they're a cut above this one. It's not a regretful buy at $35, but I'm probably not going to buy any more.
It's not highly advisable to open wines until a few weeks after they've shipped. That said, great wines tend to show well no matter what they've been put through.
Here's hoping the 2018 Commission settles down and becomes more integrated. The clipped/bitter finish is the most disconcerting for long-term greatness.
What Comes Next?
$30
Last vintage, I ended up ordering this unknowingly from Garagiste as a "mystery wine" as well as Wine Access. It's wild how two completed different retail models can result in the same exact wine at my house at the end of it. The 2018 is outstanding and I'd be up for more.
$400
Schrader is the only Napa Cab producer Wine Spectator has rated 100 points blind (Bryant Family, the suspected association for the Commission mentioned above got 99 points blind once for their 1996, but Spectator bumped it up to 100 in a subsequent non-blind tasting). Here's a chance to cut the line on their mailing list where it retails for $225 last I checked.
Bottom Line
With Wine Access, don't forget to stack the still-active Amex Offer with a $50 off $150 referral or $50 off $200 or 20% off if you're an existing customer.
