If I told you I'd found a 93-point California Cab made by Kirk Venge that retailed for less than $30, you'd probably think I'd lost my mind right? That is exactly what I've done!
The 2023 JAX Y3 Cabernet Sauvignon is without a doubt my top California Cab find of 2025. Deep, rich, plush, and smooth, this flows with notes of ripe plum, cassis, blackberry, espresso, cocoa, and French oak spice. Silky and round on the palate, with ripe tannins, it shows that signature Kirk Venge style, and that style can best be summed up as pleasure bent!
Kirk has been making the wines for this Calistoga-based, family-run winery for 20 years, and he knocked it out of the park in the 2023 vintage. When I tasted it with my sales rep recently, I had to maintain my poker face because it tasted like a wine I'd normally retail for $40 to $50. I am not kidding, there's a style and presence to this 100% Cabernet Sauvignon that I hardly ever find at this price point.
That incredible quality-to-price ratio can be attributed to 3 key facets -- great vintage, great vineyards, and great winemaker. Vintage 2023 was perfect, all of the fruit comes from pedigreed sites in Napa and Sonoma, and Kirk Venge made it.
I could go on and on about this one, but I think you get the point : ) This is the kind of Cab you want in your glass on one of these cold nights, but be sure to save a bottle of 2 for future enjoyment -- drink now through 2035.
Josh Spurling
Owner, Operator, Wine Monger
Table Wine Asheville
