2017 Grawlix Cabernet Sauvignon Sonoma County

This morning, we shared our story of visiting the man behind Hidden Ridge—and the Cabernet that resulted promptly disappeared. While there isn’t more Piece of Work Cabernet, we refuse to leave Wine Access members hanging—and Timothy isn’t our only connection to premier Cabernet Sauvignon at an insane value price. Let us present Grawlix, a seductively smooth Cabernet Sauvignon that would go for three times as much under any other label, but today is the same cost as Piece of Work.

From an unmatched vineyard source and a winemaker who’s crafted luxury wines in Napa and Sonoma—think $150 pitch-perfect Saint-Émilion lookalikes that critics can’t get enough of—this is every bargain-hunter’s dream Cabernet.

Read on for the full story behind this opulent and rich Cabernet Sauvignon. 

It was close to 10 p.m. when we met Ivan T.—the only time he said he had free. When we reached the end of a long dirt road rising up into the Sonoma hills, the small warehouse looked dark and abandoned from the outside. The only sign of life was the sound of Pink Floyd floating through an open door.

We stepped inside, blinking in the bright light. A black Lab raised her head, thumped her tail a few times in welcome, and went back to sleep. On a nearby table were some unlabeled wine bottles and a few empties of Modelo Especial. Ivan was nowhere to be seen. 

“Hello?” we said.

From a circular opening in one of the stainless steel tanks, a boot emerged, followed by a jean-clad leg, then the upper body, shaggy head, and full beard of the man who would become responsible for Grawlix wines. 

An object of some mythos in Sonoma winemaking circles, Ivan grew up a military brat, served three years in active infantry at Fort Bragg, caught the wine bug, and went on to apprentice for some of the marquee names in Napa. He’s made high-end bottles in Napa and Sonoma—think $150 pitch-perfect Saint-Émilion lookalikes—that critics couldn’t get enough of. He’s been flying solo ever since, honing his unerring instinct for what people actually want to drink, balancing easy-drinking refreshment with hand-crafted finesse and complexity that can cellar for decades.

“Working late?”

“I’m just getting f#$@*ing started cleaning these things,” he said, reaching back inside the tank and picking up a large white brush and hose. “I’ll be here till 1 a.m.”

This was our first introduction to Ivan’s salty language. 

“So you said you want to try what I’ve been working on?”

We walked over to the table. Outside the moon was cresting over the tops of the trees. “I’ll lay it out for you upfront—take it or leave it. I don’t make wine for the critics anymore. I’ve played that game. I make the kind of wine that my friends and I want to drink every day. And most of my friends ain’t winemakers—they’re policemen, cooks, teachers.”

He picked up the unlabeled bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon, the liquid inside a deep, glossy magenta, splashed some in a glass, and handed it to us. Within 30 seconds, we realized this was every under-$30 Cab drinker’s dream wine.

What greeted us was an aromatic explosion of plums, blueberry, vanilla, and loam. Seductively smooth and open-knit on the palate, balancing velvety tannins and refreshing acidity. Its plush texture, defined structure, and lingering notes of coffee and licorice immediately caught our attention, begging for a blue cheese burger or a rack of ribs.  Our mouths began to water at thoughts—not of food—but of offering this wine to our members.

“I’m still #$%&ing with the blend. I got the fruit from my buddies at _________ up in Alexander Valley. Clay soils on the valley floor, rocks on the slopes. It’s all-natural, no pesticides or herbicides—you know, all the biodynamic crap, compost made from local crops, hawks flying around, you know. That’s why this smells like loam, fresh-picked blackberries, and cedar.”

We asked if he had a preference on the name.

“I don’t give a #$%& what you call it,” he said, inadvertently giving us the idea for the name Grawlix, print media’s name for the characters used in lieu of curse words in comic strips, a nod to his predilection for cursing like a sailor. “Long as you don’t tell them where the fruit’s from. That’s the deal.” 

A Roy Lichtenstein postcard pinned over his dinosaur of a desktop computer gave us the inspiration for the label. And so late one moonlit night in Sonoma in between cleaning tanks, Grawlix—an F-bomb-droppingly good Cabernet Sauvignon—was born. 

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

• ABV 14.50%
• 15 mins
• Drink Up
• % Cabernet Sauvignon
• Serving temperature – 60°
• Cork