One difference: This is 14.5% but AO is 14.2%. Might be done to throw us off! But it’s not the same.
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If it is AO, it is not the same blend as the Prop Red that they bottle, which someone above said is 55% Cab. Laws state that this is at least 75% Cab in order to be bottled as such, hence the higher alcohol perhaps.
Very strange then. They can’t say what the scores are if it’s not the same wine. I guess it’s not AO.
My google finds no other Atlas Peak Prop Red wines at >$100.
Want to sell me one of your cases Matt, and reduce your exposure? 
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I can’t believe I bought 3. LOL. Was a good price point.
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AO was a great fit for 429 and 453 as the winery and winemaker description fit it almost perfectly. This has no winery description other than “Napa.”
I just searched “Stagecoach Cabernet” in my Vivino app, and stop counting after 40 different producers…
was there a 96 point score anywhere for the AO wine? Just saw the 93 point ones. Also seems odd they would have only said >$100 if winery sells it for $170
But it’s not. It’s labelled as a proprietary red and it’s >$100 and all single vineyard.
I think they could have done that contractually. But, the alcohol is different. And if what JDutko says is true, legally dN can’t label this as CABERNET if it’s only 55% Cabernet - so it legally can’t be AO.
Certainly is 75% - not sure how DN things they can go around the law as the copy says “we decided to call it Cabernet based on the contract with the winery”. Shocked this would pass TTB but what do I know
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I am 100% sure this statement is true, given the laws.
What we don’t know is if dN is legally allowed to call it the same proprietary red and quote the scores, if it’s not the exact exact same blend. This is the gray area that comes with buying dN wine.
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Well, even if they legally can, it’s obviously immoral.
It would still be a shiner IF IT WAS BOTTLED BY THE WINERY but it would only count as a real shiner if they sold that exact same wine in some fashion.
If they just bottled it w/ a different blend (>75%) and it’s not something they sell, obviously the entire offer is a lie.
I think it’s very likely we jus have the wrong winery. We will learn a ton when we see the cork.
If the winery didn’t want them call it “Prop Red” they could have called it a “Red Blend” or a “Mountain Cuvée”or something versus “Cabernet” when its below the 75% threshold. Just seems like DN is flipping the bird to the law for no real apparent reason or gain
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I might have misread this. It is totally legal and moral to change the label from Prop Red to Cabernet and quote the scores if it’s the EXACT SAME BOTTLE OF WINE. I assume by law, a 76% Cabernet Blend can be labeled Prop Red by the original winery. They even gave us full disclosure that they did change the name of the label vs. what the winery uses.
I think more likely we have the wrong winery. Would they really risk breaking the law over a name change? I agree w/ you could have just done something else.
Agreed with all the above. The AO wine is only 55% Cab and labeled Napa, so this is most likely not from AO.
I’m just saying that since Stagecoach Vyd. makes up most of the acreage up on Atlas Peak, it’s most likely from one of the many producers from there.
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Here is a wild guess, but can’t confirm scores, that it comes from Atlas Peak (although I think it does) or exact blend. Plus alc. % is a tad off….
https://www.aonairwine.com/product/2021-Mountains-Proprietary
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There are a lot of wineries in Napa that use proprietary names even though most years the blend has 75% or more Cabernet Sauvignon. Insignia comes to mind. Easier for them to market is as one high quality blend, and let nature dictate what the blend is year in and year out, than forcing 75% Cabernet when it should be a Merlot vintage. Not saying this is definitively what is going on here, but it is totally normal and happens all the time.
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Yah, I agree and get that. And it would be totally legal for THAT EXACT WINE to be “Proprietary” under the OG label and “Cabernet” under dN label. Only issue is it can’t be AO.
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