Varner Wine, Foxglove Cabernet Sauvignon, 2020

Foxglove is Varner's more accessible label, designed to bring their meticulous, small-production approach to wines that don't require a second mortgage. This Cabernet Sauvignon is sourced from Central Coast fruit and made with the same care that goes into Varner's celebrated single-vineyard Santa Cruz Mountains work.

The result is a genuinely well-made, fruit-forward Cab that punches well above its price bracket — dark-fruited, herbally accented, and balanced rather than overblown.

We find it drinking brilliantly right now: the tannins are supple, the fruit is generous without being jammy, and there's enough structure to hold it together until around 2030. This is California Cabernet done with restraint and purpose, not a power play. Open it with something off the grill and you'll see exactly why the Foxglove range has earned such a devoted following.