Lot 102 2025 Rockpile Malbec

WINE FUTURE BOTTLING DECEMBER 2026

Make no mistake about it, this is absolutely mind-blowing stuff. Like HOLY SHIT this is good, good.

If there is one wine I would stake my reputation on, this is it.

Sourced from a very high-end Napa producer attempting to re-create superstar winemaker Jesse Katz's 95- to 100-point scoring Devil Proof series of Rockpile Ridge Malbecs, Lot 102 is 7-barrels of insanely delicious Rockpile Malbec (I got the scoop from the owner of the vineyard who technically owns 50% of the wine).

Now, let me just say up front, while I have certainly heard of Jesse Katz and familiar with his winemaking style, I had never heard of Devil Proof or his crazy high-scoring Malbecs. But I have to say, for what it's worth, I’m pretty sure the folks in Napa did a hell of a job recreating it as my experience with this wine and subsequent tasting notes closely mirror the reviews and tasting notes for the Devil Proof Malbec's. Either way, it's a hell of a wine (pardon the pun).

The story goes that this fruit, sourced from dry-farmed, hilltop vineyard adjacent to the Rockpile Ridge vineyard, but a little bit higher up at 1500+ feet of elevation (Malbec loves elevation!), had fallen out of a $10,000/ton contract (no surprise given today's environment) and the guys in Napa decided to pick it up on the cheap and go for it. And go for it they did, this is a massive, voluptuous, silky-yet-palate-staining behemoth of a wine that, despite its considerable largesse, is beautifully balanced and perfectly unctuous with lovely, nervy energy and tension throughout. Pure, palate-caressing deliciousness!

Comparable price point? Hard to say, but, considering you are getting what I think amounts to a very well-appointed knock-off of what now sells for upwards of $300/bottle, I would argue this is rather competitively priced at $199/case. Yep, not cheap granted you can score high-end Napa Cab’s from me for the same price; however, this is such a spectacular wine and such pure hedonistic pleasure, I am confident you will find it quite worth the tariff. Succulent and absolutely delicious, this is the kind of liquid velvet elixir that makes your eyes roll back in your head. Reminds me of the first time I tasted one of those Manfred Krankel Sine Qua Non Syrah’s…

Impenetrable squid ink in the glass that leaves an electric purple stain as you swirl it. Dense, brooding bouquet of molten dark chocolate, brown sugar, iron and leather is haloed with a lovely lilac perfume interlaced with huckleberry syrup and meaty black pepper/iodine notes. With air, Morello cherry liqueur and blackberry jam join the rambunctious, jam-packed bouquet, all wrapped in that molten dark chocolate . Plush, velvety and succulent on entry with liquid velvet tannins that simultaneous caress and stain the palate with waves of blackberry jam and chocolatey maraschino cherry that never seem to end, in fact, I can write these tasting notes from memory. I shit thee not, this finish is so persistent, it’s still with you an hour later. Incredibly delicious wine, built-to-the-nines...I've had a barrel sample open now for a couple weeks and it's still fresh!

100% Malbec, 100% Rockpile in current format. We'll keep it in barrel through to December/January timeframe and then into the bottle it goes. Final blend subject to change, of course, but I'm confident there will be no material change to the tasting notes.
75% new French oak
14.9% alc.
~150 cases available