2013 Watkins Family Winery Cabernet Sauvignon Bugay Vineyard Sonoma County

We love telling the stories of the wines we offer, but we’re the first to admit when someone does it better—especially when it’s an extremely satisfied Wine Access member. Here’s a five-star review expressing exactly why every California Cabernet fan within a mile of this email should clear space for today’s exclusive Watkins Cabernet Sauvignon Bugay Vineyard.

We didn’t leave a word out:

“Absolutely fabulous. The word is ‘balance.’ Aroma, bouquet, taste, color, tannins, richness all in perfect balance. One of my finest tastings of the year. My dinner grouping could not believe it was not $100/bottle.”

Pretty hard to top that review of the 2012—except with another library bottling of the Bugay Vineyard Cabernet, this time from the 98-point “game-changer” 2013 season. Perfectly rested for seven years now, it’s a ruby-cored portrait of one of the top vintages ever in California, with an elegant bouquet of violets, cigar box, and plum announcing a layered wine seasoned with hints of cocoa, vanilla, and mint. The long and generous finish—and that impeccable balance touted above—will have you and your friends marveling that you didn’t drop $100+ on the bottle. 

Cabernets this rare and delicious never fail to vanish quickly, so think ahead. 

We’ve been buying from and supporting this small, family-owned Sonoma operation since they were making just two barrels of each wine and fermenting lots in makeshift containers because stainless steel tanks were too expensive. Today, their mailing list regularly buys up the winery’s entire production, because their Cabernets are held close to the hearts of countless mountain Cab collectors. Now, our early patronage has paid off with unprecedented cellar access—not to mention unmatched pricing. 

The 2013 Watkins Family Winery Cabernet Sauvignon from the coveted Bugay Vineyard is an extremely rare library release from the famous Sonoma harvest that Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate called a “game-changer,” and as the fabulous wines from that vintage get better and better in the bottle, it’s going down in history as one of the best California winegrowing seasons ever.  

Library wines are some of the most valuable bottles on the market—pre-aged, perfectly preserved specimens from wineries’ private stocks—and from top vintages, they can transcend price. That’s because such wines are stashed away in collectors’ homes or winery libraries, and have effectively disappeared from the market. That’s why having the keys (figuratively) to Randall Watkins’ cellar is such a unique honor—and why we never pass on an opportunity to extend that access to you.  

Watkins makes wine for top wineries like Laurel Glen and Wine Access-favorite Redwood Hill, but his heart is in the family business, which started in 1979. He specializes in mountain wines, specifically those off the hardscrabble, rock-strewn slopes of the Mayacamas. He focuses on sites with the warmth and sun exposure to ripen late into the growing season, and rocky volcanic soils that are well-draining, stressing the vines and leading to small, thick-skinned, ultra-concentrated berries.

This small-production release off the Bugay Vineyard shows the genius of his approach, and why his wines are vanishingly popular with those who prefer high-altitude expressions. The site, which sits some 1,400 feet up on a Mayacamas ridge, has produced stunning Cabernets for Arnot-Roberts. Watkins sources from the rockiest block of Bugay, which sits above frosts and fog, protected from damaging conditions and perfectly situated to absorb sunlight. Caressed and cooled by marine air, the grapes mature slowly and evenly, maintaining the acidity bolstered by the complex volcanic rock soils interspersed with ash.

Precious little fruit comes off this block in general, making today’s wine extra exclusive. Throw in the value price for a single-vineyard Cabernet from one of the best vintages ever, and you’re looking at a deal that will come and go like a ghost.

• Fruit Intensity
• Oak Intensity
• Body
• Acidity
• Tannin

• ABV 14.50%
• 15 mins
• Drink Up
• 76% Cabernet Sauvignon10% Cabernet Franc9% Merlot3% Malbec2% Petit Verdot
• Serving temperature – 58°
• Cork