Winemaker Notes
Blackberry, plum, and cherry notes are framed with hints of exotic spices, and perfectly balanced by sweet oak. The palate is full and rich with structured tannins and a long finish. Enjoyable upon release and can be cellared through 2018 and beyond.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Dense and tight, with a firm core of loamy earth, dried dark berry, spice and cedar. Opens up to black licorice and anise seed notes, ending with chewy tannins. Best from 2013 through 2023.
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Wine Enthusiast
This shows classic Napa Cabernet flavors of ripe blackberries and black currants, with a nice herbaceousness and a balanced overlay of toasty oak. It's pretty tannic now, although it’s still enjoyable. It should gain bottle complexities over the next six years or so.
One of the most prestigious wines of the world capable of great power and grace, Napa Valley Cabernet is a leading force in the world of fine, famous, collectible red wine. Today the Napa Valley and Cabernet Sauvignon are so intrinsically linked that it is difficult to discuss one without the other. But it wasn’t until the 1970s that this marriage came to light; sudden international recognition rained upon Napa with the victory of the Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars 1973 Cabernet Sauvignon in the 1976 Judgement of Paris.
Cabernet Sauvignon undoubtedly dominates Napa Valley today, covering half of the land under vine, commanding the highest prices per ton and earning the most critical acclaim. Cabernet Sauvignon’s structure, acidity, capacity to thrive in multiple environs and ability to express nuances of vintage make it perfect for Napa Valley where incredible soil and geographical diversity are found and the climate is perfect for grape growing. Within the Napa Valley lie many smaller sub-AVAs that express specific characteristics based on situation, slope and soil—as a perfect example, Rutherford’s famous dust or Stags Leap District's tart cherry flavors.