Pahlmeyer Napa Valley Proprietary Red 2013

Professional Ratings

• 96 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
  An absolute stunner is the 2013 Proprietary Red Wine, a blend of 81% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Merlot, 6% Malbec and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. This is all mountain fruit from primarily the Stagecoach Vineyard and another site in Rancho Chimiles. Beautiful floral, smoky, blackcurrant notes mixed with acacia flowers and forest floor jump from the glass of this dense, full-bodied, concentrated and age-worthy wine. Like most 2013s, this is a 30-year wine with remarkable concentration, color and fruit extract. Forget it for another 3-4 years, and drink it over the following 30+ years.
• 96 James Suckling
  So much purple fruit here like blueberries as well as minerals and black pepper. Full body, firm and silky tannins. Tight and compressed style with great persistence. Better in 2020, but so gorgeous now.
• 93 Wine Spectator
  A rich, powerful expression of black licorice, graphite, dark berry and cedary, toasty oak, this is well-proportioned and focused, with all the elements headed in the right direction. The tannins are edgy, in a pleasing way. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Drink now through 2028.
• 93 Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
  There is no shyness to the demonstrative 2013 Pahlmeyer Proprietary Red. This Bordeaux-style red—produced from 81% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Merlot, 6% Malbec, 3% Cabernet Franc, and 3% Petit Verdot—has successfully combined the strength of each of those varieties to meld into a beautiful and complete wine. The wine's ripe berries, sweet wood, and crushed stone flavors make it a treat with a well-marbled grilled steak. Drinks pretty well now and will significantly improve in another 10 to 15 years. (Tasted: October 24, 2016, San Francisco, CA)