If you aren’t down with SLD, are you even a fan of Napa Cab?

We’re talking, of course, about Stags Leap District.

Dolum is back, bigger and better than ever. This time, from the incomparable 2021 vintage. With 94 POINTS! And the $125 original retail price? Smashed like a mudcrab! Try $39 instead.

The last time Stags Leap Cabs were priced like this, people were still asking ‘Smoking or non-smoking’ at restaurants. Gas was $0.99 a gallon, and a brand-spanking new Toyota Corolla cost around $14k.

You’ll find it challenging to score a sub-$100 bottle from this famed AVA. An area known for Cliff Lede’s Poetry Vineyard, Joseph Phelps’ Barboza Vineyard, and others powering many $200-300+ Cabernets.

So, getting this bad boy for $39?! We call that a NO BRAINER.

• Footnote: We’re breaking the rules and putting this here, smack in the middle. If you bought this in the past, you would notice a small difference. The ‘SLD’ is conspicuously gone from the label. Rest assured - it’s still 100% the same Stags Leap District fruit. However, a certain big-name producer who is powerful enough did not like the whole “Cask” number thing on another SLD Cab besides theirs, so Dolum had to leave it off on the label - it is however stamped on the cork for assurance!

Dolum has been simply crushing it. If you’ve had any of their offers in the past, you know this. If not, today is a perfect day to get on board.

They locked down fruit from a bunch of prized locations around the valley - from Oakville to Stags Leap and beyond.

Oh, and there’s another ingredient in the secret sauce - Chad Alexander!

He’s been at it for a quarter century, helping put Robert Craig and Hess Collection on the map. He actually started at Hess when he was a teenager, not even of drinking age!

Then in 2009, he launched a label under his name, sourcing odd lots from various wineries in the area and offering them at breakneck discounts. In the process, he built a legion of fans. The quality was always off the meter and the prices were always down to earth.

Moving right along to the wine - which is surely plummeting into sold-out territory every minute - it’s a razztwizzling good one that’s for sure. Plum and blackberry cobbler, with dusty violets, pencil lead, and toasty oak. Bittersweet chocolate and spice find their way into the mix. Powerfully styled, but elegantly made, with an even balance of spice, fruit, and savory elements…it has all the components you want in a top Napa Cab.

And that PRICE!!

Again. No. Brainer.

94 Points – James Suckling

“Refined nose with wild berries, currants, dried herbs, pencil lead and some tar. Medium to full body with finely grained tannins. Poised, with a delicate texture at the center. Juicy blue and dark berries with a flavorful, vivid finish full of spices and herbs. Better after 2025.”