Red Wines    Cabernet Sauvignon    Napa Valley    California   
Wine.com - Buy wines, wine clubs, gift baskets and more
My Rating (circle) :
Date Printed: 12/2/2008
(search item no. 91105)
organic wine
collectible wine
Wine & Spirits rating: 94 points
The Wine News rating: 90 points
PRICE ON 12/2/2008: $71.99

ratings pedigree (past vintages):
2004 The Wine News rating: 94 points
2002 Wine & Spirits rating: 92 points
2001 Wine Enthusiast rating: 94 points
1999 Wine Enthusiast rating: 92 points
1999 Wine & Spirits rating: 88 points
1998 International Wine Cellar rating: 92 points
1997 Wine & Spirits rating: 94 points
1995 Wine Spectator rating: 91 points

Winemaker's Notes:

Number 86 on the Wine.com 100 of 2007!

"Surprisingly elegant for a 2003, this melds bright raspberry flavor with darker tones of savory black olives and freshly turned earth. The fruit character is beautifully floral, clean and fresh, a crush of berry flavor held in tense suspension with the tannin, so finely integrated that it's the fresh impression that lasts. Lovely to drink now with a roast leg of lamb, this will only get better with age."
-Wines & Spirits

2003 marks the first vintage that Grgich Hills' Cabernet Sauvignon is estate grown. By blending wine from their Yountville vineyard with small amounts from their Rutherford and Calistoga vineyards, which are all farmed organically, they create a complex Cabernet Sauvignon with a distinctive personality. The result is a dark, muscular wine with intriguing aromas of licorice, cedar and blackberries with a hint of earthy truffles. Wonderfully drinkable upon release, the wine's firm tannin structure promises it will benefit from aging.

All of Grgich Hills' vineyards are biodynamically farmed, an agricultural philosophy that incorporates all of the elements of organic farming, using no artificial pesticides, fertilizers, or fungicides. Additionally, it treats the Earth as a living organism and utilizes nature's basic life forces to bring about balance between the grapevines and the Earth.

My Notes:

About Grgich Hills Cellar:

Mike Grgich first gained international recognition at the celebrated "Paris Tasting" of 1976 in which a panel of eminent French judges swirled, sniffed, and sipped an array of the fabled white Burgundies of France and a small sampling of upstart Chardonnays from the Napa Valley. When the results where in, the French judges were shocked: they had chosen Mike’s 1973 Montelena Chardonnay as the finest white wine in the world. Mon Dieu! The results stunned the international wine establishment and immediately earned Mike Grgich a reputation as one of the greatest winemakers in the world.

Today, in Grgich Hills' 30th year, they remain committed to creating richly flavored, distinctive wines from certified organic Napa Valley vineyards that are farmed biodynamically. By all accounts they have succeeded. The new release of Cabernet Sauvignon just received a whopping 94 rating from Wine & Spirits and the Wine News awarded "Chardonnay of the Year" honors to their 2004 vintage. These world renowned Estate grown wines from prime Napa Valley vineyards are unique, delicious, and allocated.