Altvs Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 2007
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Winemaker Notes
2007 marks our second vintage of Altvs, a handcrafted, small-production, Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. This elegant wine features fruit from a handful of selected rows within our favorite vineyards located from Coombsville to St. Helena. The wine underwent malolactic fermentation in barrel and was aged in 100% French oak barrels, half of which were new. Small portions of Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, and Malbec were incorporated for added color, texture, aromatics and complexity. The 2007 Altvs Cabernet delivers balance, finesse and intense fruit concentration. The nose is lush and generous with huckleberry, blueberry, crème de cassis, crushed rocks, and cinnamon. The palate is a seamless fabric of acidity, wood, tannin, and alcohol. The finish is full, long, velvety and elegant. While the unusual opulence and structure of this wine allow it to be consumed in its youth, it will continue to evolve and improve over the next decade.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
A stylish wine that's well-structured and concentrated, slow to unveil its mix of dried currant, blackberry and black licorice, gaining depth and complexity. Yet for all its glimpses of depth and nuance, this needs time. Best from 2012 through 2021.
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Wine Enthusiast
Made in the modern cult style, this soft, ripely lush Cabernet is immediately likeable for its blackberry-pie filling, black currant liqueur, chocolate, licorice and smoky sweet oak flavors. It's California Cabernet at its heady, opulent best. Drink now.
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.