2022 Word Choice Cabernet Sauvignon Calistoga Napa Valley 750 ml

We were pretty sure “ougiya” wasn’t a word.

But then again, we also doubted that a Napa Cabernet of this incredible pedigree, hailing from this particularly famous vineyard, could ever, under any circumstances, go for less than $30.

The first misconception doomed our Scrabble game. As for the second…well, let’s just say today’s 2022 Word Choice Cabernet Sauvignon has a strong chance to be one of this vintage’s most stunning and perhaps unrepeatable deals.

Ougiya, it turns out, is the currency of Mauritania—and the word is worth a whopping ten points.

How the star winemaker behind this Word Choice release knew this obscure fact is beyond us. They spent many more years dragging hoses as a cellar rat at top Napa estates like Scarecrow than they did hitting the books in school. Yet somehow, whenever we face them over the board, we end up on the losing side.

Despite the occasional crushing defeat, the quarterly Scrabble games we attend with a small circle of NorCal winemakers are supremely useful for catching scuttlebutt on super-rare insider deals like this one.

A potent, spice-filled blend that’s almost all Cabernet Sauvignon—buffed up with a touch of Petit Sirah, and Malbec—off a revered Calistoga plot, this has all the makings of a major Palisades powerhouse with a going rate of $95. But the estate behind it was streamlining inventory and doing some belt-tightening at the behest of a consulting firm, and needed any non-essential barrels off the books post haste.

Nothing pleases us more than that. We could promise secrecy on the estate, the vineyard, and the winemaker—plus a quick infusion of cash to please the Big Five suits.