Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Connoisseurs' Guide
This impressive, generously filled and very solid young wine is at once both powerful and remarkably well-balanced and delivers loads of optimally ripened, curranty fruit juxtaposed with just the right measure of complimentary oak. It is quite full on the palate and comes complete with lots of Cabernet tannins, but even as the astringency crowds in at the finish, its confident fruit refuses to quit. It is not, nor will it ever be the picture of elegance, but its stunning depth and keen varietal precision raise great expectations for a most handsome maturity some eight to ten years hence.
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Wine & Spirits
Too young to drink, this already shows the high altitude effect of its vineyard at the top of Spring Mountain, as if you could feel the cool ocean breeze and the heat of the sun in the dark fruit of the wine. Oak is primary for now, with the heavy toast that makes it taste like a youthful wine pulled directly from the barrel, Good Potential; give it time.
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.