We are often asked what makes certain wines worth the sky-high prices they fetch on release or at auction, and it really comes down to one concept: rarity. The common denominator shared by almost all the world’s most sought-after wines is limited quantity. They often come from a miniscule yet very special vineyard site and are made using only the finest selection of grapes, with a very small number of barrels produced. In the two years since the launch of its members only wine club, Robb Report has continued to fully embrace the notion of exclusivity with its Robb Report 672 Napa Valley Wine Club. Besides the scarcity of the wines on offer to members, the club is unique on two counts, its wines being solely from Napa Valley and exclusively red.
Unlike that hard-to-procure Napa cult wine or impossible-to-buy Burgundy, the selections for 672 Wine Club are available to those who join and are also an outstanding value. Quarterly shipments of two bottles each of three different wines—for a total of six bottles every three months—are priced at between $550 and $650, with shipping included, for an average of $100 per bottle. Receiving a pair of wines allows you to drink one now and cellar the other to allow it to mature to perfection. The club is limited to 672 members, which is the number of bottles a standard shipping palette holds. This allows the Robb Report team and their partner, WineSavage, to source rare and highly allocated lots that would be unavailable to a larger group. Additional bottles may be available for purchase on the club’s website while stock lasts, with priority given to members.
If you are a regular Robb Report reader, you know that across the board the products and experiences spotlighted on the magazine’s pages are guaranteed to be the cream of the crop in their categories. From watches to yachts to hotel rooms, the editors and writers at Robb Report bring you the finest options available, and its wine club is no different.
Dave Shefferman, CEO of WineSavage, is a Napa insider who has longstanding relationships with winemakers and winery owners up and down the valley. After contacting a wide variety of producers to find special, one-of-a-kind offerings, the type that may otherwise be available to their private wine club members or at auction, Shefferman and a tasting panel made up of winemakers, sommeliers, and WSET certified professionals convene around a table and blind taste wines to be considered for inclusion in the club. The group tastes 60 to 100 wines per quarter and whittles the selection down to just a handful of lead contenders.
The samples of the standouts from the blind tastings are then sent to us for a final round of tastings to confirm that they truly deserve best of the best status or should be removed from consideration. The wines that make it through that selection process are then considered for one of our shipments. (Full disclosure, we also write the tasting cards and producer profiles that are included with each shipment, but we do not receive any additional compensation from the wine club.)
“Curating wine for over a decade for exclusive wine clubs, our team’s relationships in Napa Valley run deep,” Shefferman says. “Through these years of trust and collaboration, we gain access to some of Napa Valley’s most coveted treasures from both marquis winemakers and up-and-coming talent, yet to be discovered by the mainstream.”
Selections lean towards Cabernet Sauvignon and Bordeaux-style or proprietary red blends, with an occasional exceptional single variety red such as Merlot or Syrah. While recent club offerings have included red blends, Syrah, Malbec, and Merlot alongside bottles of Cab, in the most recent quarter the stars have aligned, and all three selections are made with the king of red grapes. Stringer Cellars 2021 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is deep ruby in the glass and has aromas of lavender, violet, red plum, and raspberry. Polished tannins and mild acidity are wrapped around flavors of cassis, black plum, raspberry, nutmeg, and fennel pollen that dissolve into a smooth finish. Acumen Wines 2021 Peak Cabernet Sauvignon Atlas Peak is sourced from two different vineyards only a half mile apart, this wine combines the best of both worlds, allowing for the intensity of one to be balanced out by the more graceful characteristics of the other; a tiny amount of Merlot is blended in for equilibrium. And the Stanton Vineyards 2019 Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon has aromas of cassis, cedar, and mocha. Inky garnet in color with a violet rim, it has flavors of red plum, red currant, blackberry, milk chocolate, clove, and violet. Silky tannins and a burst of bright acidity on the finish make for a beautiful pour.
With almost 1,000 commercial wine producers in Napa Valley, it would be nearly impossible to locate selections such as these on your own. As Dave Shefferman says, “Whether limited-production classics or avant-garde creations, rest assured, we’ve done the legwork to filter out the best of the best and bring the Napa Valley experience directly to your doorstep.”
