Tooth & Nail makes plenty of wine you can walk in and buy. This isn't one of them. Dens Clavus — Latin for "tooth and nail" — is the estate's inner circle, the bottlings held back for club members only.

The 2021 Malbec came in at fewer than four barrels. When it's gone, it's gone.

The fruit is estate-grown in the Willow Creek District on Paso Robles' cool west side, where evening breezes through the Templeton Gap stretch out the growing season and limestone-rich Calodo soils keep the acid alive.

Director of Winemaking Jeremy Leffert pulled it from a single west-facing hillside — Block 3 — fermented it in concrete, then aged it 18 months in 67% new French oak from Seguin Moreau. He blended in 21% estate Cabernet Sauvignon for length, bottled it unfined and unfiltered, and otherwise left it alone.

What you get is a Malbec with Bordeaux bones. Violets and pencil shavings on the nose; black plum, blackberry and boysenberry across a palate that's dense, layered and seriously structured.

The tannins are firm but polished — it drinks now alongside a steak and holds for years in the cellar. Most people will never know this wine exists. That's rather the point.