2018 Wine Access The Ringer Napa Cab [$650+ for as little as $30 w/free shipping?]

2018 Wine Access The Ringer Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley [affiliate link]
$35/btl

$30/btl (6+ btls)

15.2% Alcohol

Free shipping on $120+

Clues

• Robert Parker crowned this multiple 100-point icon “one of the wines that redefines greatness in Cabernet Sauvignon” (sounds like Bryant - source)
• Vinous called it “one of Napa Valley’s most fashionable and expensive cult wines” (again Bryant - source)

Related Reading: Court Crushes Bryant Winery Lawsuit

Comparison Point

Wine Access says: "The $500+ winery source for The Ringer is among the cult titans of Napa Valley"

It's non-trivial to pin down the release price of some of these high flying wineries, but the $500 claim aligning with Bryant seems reasonable.

Here are Wine Spectator ratings for recent Bryant releases:

What I thought was interesting was exploring the "lesser bottlings" from a winery like Bryant Family.

When Wine Access says we're talking about a $30-$35 wine we're really/effectively comparing it against the price of the source winery's lowest rung bottling. In this case the $95 (in 2013 dollars) DB4 bottling.

Sure, $30-$35 is still a lot less than $95. But it's a more realistic comparison point than $650+.

Bottom Line

This one sounds exactly like the 2018 Wine Access Commission bottling that was one of my least favorite Wine Access NDA wines.

I may try to work one of these into the mix of a $120+ order of more known commodities for free shipping, just to get a taste.