2017 World's End 'Rocksteady' Napa Valley Proprietary Reserve Red

If you’re looking for subtlety, come back another day. That is NOT how World’s End does things!

Always deep like the Mariana trench, wide like the Sahara, packed like a circus clown car with flavor.

The experienced Operatives will know World’s End already. We’ve featured them many times, and every one of them delivers eye-popping value.

This one? Released at $85. And today, first time ever, we’re dropping it for less than $30! Put this up there with the Costco hot dog as one of the world's benchmark values for ANY consumable good.

World’s End is a project by winemaking force Jonathan Maltus. The man has a LONG list of 95-100-point wines. He emerged as a leading visionary from the 1990s “garagiste” period in St. Emilion, where he pushed the limits and broke all the traditional rules to set new expectations for quality and price.

He does it all, most notably across places like Le Dôme, Château Teyssier, and other top Right Bank estates. World’s End is his Napa project, and he’s connected with all the right vineyards for sourcing. These wines are always made in a modern, ripe, full-throttle style. Super smooth. Polished. Deep and flavorful.

Today’s beauty comes from the Beckstoffer Las Amigas Vineyard – where exposure to the Bay and pristine farming make for longer hand times creating exceptional flavor development! Inspired by the Right-Bank of Bordeaux, it combines a 65% Merlot and a balance of 35% Cabernet Franc into a rollicking, all-gas-no-brakes freight train of flavor. Extracted red and black fruits come charging in up front - black currants, ripe cherries and stewed plums, with vanilla, fresh cut tobacco, and torrefaction notes trailing close behind.

Somehow, they manage to retain nice acidity, which keeps this beast afloat on the sea of flavor. It’s just approaching a prime drinking window, too, and has many years left.

And our price?! What else can you ask for??

91 Points – Wine Advocate “A Merlot-dominant blend from Andy Beckstoffer's vineyard in Carneros, the 2017 Rocksteady Proprietary Blend offers up scents of cedar, cola and black cherries. Full-bodied, for a Napa Merlot, it's atypically structured (it does contain 35% Cabernet Sauvignon this vintage), being a bit tense and taut in feel and turning slightly dusty on the finish. Drink 2023-2035”