Though Barnett Vineyards has been associated with their mountain Cabs for at the past four decades, they’ve also had a very tidy Chardonnay and Pinot Noir program from grapes purchased elsewhere that has been largely overlooked. Wisely, these are not from the family’s vineyards atop Spring Mountain but, rather from some of California’s top sites for these varieties. The Chardonnay for example, comes from a long-term arrangement with the Sangiacomos on the Sonoma side of Los Carneros, one of the best sites we know for Chard. This has, over the years, been smokin’ good- a real favorite of those who enjoy a larger and in-charger side of California Chardonnay. Barrel fermented, aged and gone through full malo, it’s a richer, quite nutty style that is long on lush tropical fruit with a leesy, grainy texture and a long, long pure finish with a nice hit of lemon butter on the finish. The just-released 2022 is very, very tasty, and, for sure, one of the best deals in full-throttle Chard we’ve seen in a while. But what Barnett fans scream for is the Cabernet Sauvignon from their lovely, lovely Spring Mountain District estate. At a recent tasting of Napa mountain Cabs, it outperformed just about everything else on the table and did it with effortless style and panache. Mountain Cabs like this can have a tendency towards a bit of coarseness and lots of pyrazine-y herbaceousness or, when super ripe, sometimes, there’s often very little to separate them from the smoother, rounder, more voluptuous wines from the Valley Floor. Not here. The Barnett Estate Cab remains absolutely true to its mountain origins with its brambly complexity and intense, intense fruit, but there is polish here too….a burnished sense of almost diaphanous elegance that takes it far beyond what we expected. This is a stylish Cabernet that lacks nothing in terms of power but delivers a lot more! And we don’t think, for what’s in the bottle, it’s too expensive either….especially at this very special insider-only price. Buy some for immediate gratification but do keep some aside and what it age for however long you have. So delicious and, at these insider prices, this is definitely the time to get your Barnett on!