Cardinale Red Meritage 2004

Cardinale is more than one wine – it is several wines from disparate mountain and benchland vineyards along the Mayacamas and Vaca ranges that surround Napa Valley. Every bottle reveals the artistic sensibility of the winemaker, each vineyard lot fused into a seamless blend in which one can sense the constituent parts, but still taste them as one wine. Cardinale's philosophy is guided by the pursuit of grape selectivity in the vineyard, gentle handling and the ability to accommodate the different winemaking needs of each vintage.

"When we approach the Cardinale blend, the key to success is finding the balance between the mountainsides and the valley floor. Both our Oakville vineyard and the Stags Leap portion of the blend represented higher percentages in the 2004 final blend because it was clear that the mountain wines needed the middle body that these valley floor vineyards provide. The sweetness of the Stags Leap and the weight of Oakville fit in gracefully with the strength, minerality and black fruit characters from Veeder and Howell, and together they all play off of one another."
- Christopher Carpenter, Cardinale Winemaker

"Consistently one of the best proprietary blends of northern California, Cardinale's 2004 is 100% Napa fruit (from Mt. Veeder, Howell Mountain, Stags Leap District, and Oakville). This blend of 91% Cabernet Sauvignon and 9% Merlot boasts a dense purple color in addition to sweet aromas of kirsch, black currants, licorice, olives, and spice box. Fabulous texture, full-bodied power, pure fruit, and an opulent, voluptuous finish nearly conceal significant tannin. This beauty should drink well young, yet age easily for 15 or more years."
Robert Parker's The Wine Advocate
95 Points