Grounded Wine Co.

What a find! Featured on countless magazines' and critics' best-value lists, a California Cab of this caliber at this price point is a rare bird. It's the culmination of Josh Phelps' longstanding mission to make sustainably grown and no-corners-cut Cali Cab available to a new generation of wine drinkers in a time of runaway pricing. Part of that mission is to have that Cabernet cut a classic California profile, and 2020 does not disappoint. The fruit hails from a very select group of sustainably farmed premium vineyards Josh works with in less expensive corners of California: Paso Robles, North Coast, Central Coast, and even the interior valley. It's this hunt for great fruit that makes this awesome wine possible. 2020 was a moderately warm summer that allowed a long ripening period, resulting in the gradual development of enhanced dark fruit and tannin, the harvest for this wine's fruit not complete until their central coast blocks were picked in late October in the cool of night. The wine leads out with heady aromas of black cherry, cassis, and licorice. The palate shows ripe blackberry, dusty cocoa, and sweet oak, awash in those silky Cali Cab tannins. At 13.9% and drinking beautifully right out of the bottle, this wine is a home run.