The Sword of Freedom has returned!!! 96 POINTS and UNDER $40 on this 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from the treasured peaks of Howell Mountain!!! Let’s do this!!! 

RUDIUS! Y’all swallowed every last bottle of the 2023 Diamond Mountain like a Vegas circus act, but lucky for you, us, and bold and powerful Napa Cab lovers EVERYWHERE — new wines have just dropped! At OVER 70% OFF — this Chad Alexander-crafted beauty is the sort of Howell Mountain fever dream of a deal you’ve been waiting for!!! The sword of freedom, symbolizing the emancipation of man, and the freedom to pursue your own destiny, and…and…a flat-out STUNNING 96 point Howell Mountain Cab, too! The only bad part? We’ve got even less than we did of the Diamond Mountain…so move with all haste, my brethren!!! 

This cunning and crafty gladiator of a wine is back like Paul Mescal in Gladiator II — and what he lacks in Maximus’ sullen broodiness, he more than makes up for in sheer power, grace, and easy-on-the-eyes splendor. I’m still talking about the wine…just in case I lost you there. ANYWHO! The wine opens sensuous and floral, with lilacs and hibiscus dancing alongside the classic blueberry and blackberry notes of Howell Mountain’s iron-rich soils. The graphite minerality buttresses these fine-yet-prevalent tannins, and the savory and wild herb character expresses sage, and bay laurel, with a meaty, dusty intensity that takes this full-throttle with plenty of torque. Perhaps not as outwardly amiable as the Diamond Mountain straight out the bottle — but hey, that’s Howell Mountain for you. A swirl and a sit in the glass or a decanter works miracles…and this is clearly a wine built to last. And THAT, that is what you want here! 

As before, here’s what you need to know: 

• 2023 vintage. Epic. Bewildering quality, and likely to be enthroned as one of the finest Napa Valley vintages in history once the dust settles and these releases trickle out fully into the world. 
• Chad Alexander. He’s the certified Mountain Specialist behind such icons as Robert Craig, and Hess Collection (where he started working at 14), as well as Last Bottle mainstay — Dolum Estates.
• 96 POINTS! The review calls it “Dusky and dense” with “a humming engine of glassy tannins” and “an outward grace” — and if that doesn’t make you want to pop a bottle…check your pulse! 
• The rebirth of an icon. Rudius was founded in 2005 by a locally-famed winemaker (Tor, Nemerever, Boich, and more) as a passion project and the wines were KILLER. After a few years on the shelf thanks to a certain global pandemic, 2023 marks the re-birth, and the two Cabs we’ve tasted so far are simply GLORIOUS! 
• LIMITED. You won’t find this ANYWHERE else…just the winery, and us. So if you like saving nearly $100 bucks per bottle…you know what to do.

96 POINTS — and the ultimate cellar companion for years to come — all at a simply INCONCEIVABLE price of just $39. That’s how WE DO! 

While it lasts!!!