Knights Bridge Dr. Crane Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2009
-
Robert
Parker -
Wine
Spectator
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Deep garnet in color, the 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Dr Crane Vineyard offers alluring scents of warm plums, Black Forest cake and blackcurrant cordial with touches of Indian spices, cardamom, tobacco and cedar plus a waft of bay leaves. Big, concentrated, full-bodied and wonderfully powerful, the palate has a firm line of ripe, plush tannins framing all that fruit, and it finishes long and spicy. One for the hedonists!
-
Wine Spectator
Exhibits rich, juicy, vivid black cherry and black berry fruit that's well-centered and nicely proportioned. The finish shows hints of red and black licorice, with a crushed rock earthiness. Drink now through 2024. 198 cases made.
Other Vintages
2013-
James
Suckling
A committed partnership of friends, family and community has come together to form Knights Bridge Winery & Vineyards. They bring their considerable resources and talents to this venture, where they have created a solid foundation for the future.
Knights Bridge was founded by friends who are united in their quest for excellence, their deep respect for nature and their abiding love of wine and food. Their passion to share the bounty of the land they love so much led them to create this special place where family and friends can gather around the table to celebrate the richness of life.
A noble variety bestowed with both power and concentration, Cabernet Sauvignon enjoys success all over the globe, its best examples showing potential to age beautifully for decades. Cabernet Sauvignon flourishes in Bordeaux's Medoc where it is often blended with Merlot and smaller amounts of some combination of Cabernet Franc, Malbecand Petit Verdot. In the Napa Valley, ‘Cab’ is responsible for some of the world’s most prestigious, age-worthy and sought-after “cult” wines. Somm Secret—DNA profiling in 1997 revealed that Cabernet Sauvignon was born from a spontaneous crossing of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc in 17th century southwest France.
St. Helena is in the heart of the Napa Valley, nestled between Calistoga to the north and Rutherford on its southern border. On its western side, the Mayacamas Mountains guard it from the cooling effects of the Pacific Ocean; to its east stand the Vaca Mountains. In conjunction, these mountain ranges serve to lock in summer daytime heat. But in the evening, cool air from the San Pablo Bay funnels up through the valley, creating very chilly nights. It isn’t uncommon for temperatures to drop 50 degrees, a shift that promotes a balance of sugar ripeness and acidity in wine grapes.
St. Helena contains a plethora of different soil types in a small area, which have been enhanced over centuries by rain runoff from both mountain ranges. Its vineyards cover a variety of terrain, spreading across the bucolic valley floor and its benchlands.
These ideal topographic and climatic growing conditions easily caught the attention of early winemaking pioneers. In fact, St. Helena is the birthplace of Napa Valley’s commercial wine industry. Dr. Crane founded his cellar in 1859, David Fulton in 1860 and Charles Krug in 1861.
Today there are no less than 400 separate vineyards planted within the 12,000 acres that make up the St. Helena appellation.
Revered most for its red wines based on Bordeaux varieties, namely Cabernet Sauvignon, the St. Helena appellation is also a source of superior Syrah, Zinfandel and Sauvignon blanc.