🏷️ Lot Overview
Region: Rutherford, Napa Valley
Vintage: 2022
Blend: 95% Malbec, 5% Petite Verdot
ChatGPT Original Source Guess: Likely Honig Vineyard & Winery
Wine Berserkers Guess: Peju Making of Vineyard Malbec
Alcohol: 14.5%
Oak Aging: ~60% New French Oak
Cam Price: $10.75 ($129/case)
Retail Estimate: $65–$75
Drink Window: Late 2025–2032+
🍷 Cameron’s Release Notes
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I had originally intended to just buy a couple hundred gallons of this delicious Malbec for blending, but I loved it so much I decided to purchase the whole lot. Quite frankly, I think this is the most pleasurable red wine we have in the barn right now.
I can’t say this enough—Lot 22 Rutherford Malbec is utterly delicious and beautifully complex. Bottled at the end of June and drinking great already, if ever there was a red wine equivalent to the porch pounder, this is it!
And, above all, it is a stunning deal at just $129/case DELIVERED.
Yes, you read that right—this fantastic, normally $75/bottle Rutherford Malbec is yours for just $129/case DELIVERED.
Check it out today—shipments begin early August!
Tasting Notes
Gorgeously aromatic, plush, and silky, this juicy Malbec is drinking great now and is the perfect everyday red while your 2023 Napa Cabs come into their own.
Medium to deep purple in the glass, it opens with a boisterous bouquet of ripe raspberry, classic Rutherford dust, black plum, and dark chocolate, accented by seasoned oak and purple florals.
The entry is plush and juicy, with raspberry kirsch riding red-rock mineral tannins and a core of fruit kissed with cocoa and spice.
Beautifully energetic and remarkably complex, this is, quite simply, delicious, delicious, deeeeelicious wine.
100% Rutherford
95% Malbec, 5% Petite Verdot
~60% new French oak
14.5% alc.
Bottled June 27, 2025
~238 cases produced
📦 Bottle Shock Status
❌ Bottled June 2025 – Try in Late 2025
🧠ChatGPT says:
🔍 Source Guess: Likely Honig Vineyard & Winery
🎯 Rationale:
- Rutherford Origin + Malbec Focus: Very few producers in Rutherford specialize in Malbec. Honig is one of the notable exceptions with both estate and reserve bottlings of Malbec, priced around $65–$85.
- Style & Approachability: Cam calls this a “red wine porch pounder” and notes it’s drinking well now. Honig’s Malbecs are known for being plush, juicy, and smooth even upon release—consistent with this profile.
- Production Scale: Only 238 cases were bottled—suggesting a winery with flexibility in lot size and enough scale to have blending leftovers that could become their own release.
- Cam’s Purchase Story: Cam’s note about initially buying for blending and then taking the whole lot fits with Honig potentially having an excess or side lot they weren’t going to bottle themselves.
- Barrel Program: 60% new French oak and 14.5% alc are right in line with Honig’s barrel regimens for red wines.
🧠Alternate Possibilities:
- St. Supéry Estate: Also produces Rutherford Malbec but typically blends more Cab into their red wines.
- Round Pond Estate: Makes small lots of Rutherford reds, but Malbec is less of a focus in their portfolio.
âś… Conclusion:
Given the Rutherford designation, pure Malbec style, retail price point, and Cam’s description of plush drinkability, Honig Vineyard & Winery is the most likely source for Lot 22.
⏳ Drink Window
- Early: Late 2025 (very approachable already per Cam)
- Peak: 2026–2029, when the plush fruit and Rutherford dust integrate with cocoa-spice complexity
- Hold Potential: 2032+ for a more savory, leathery, tertiary profile
⏳ Drink Window: 2025–2032+ (peak 2026–2029)
🧑‍🤝‍🧑🍷 Wine Berserkers Guess: Peju Making of Vineyard Malbec