Tetra Red 2006
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Parker
Robert
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2006 is a blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. It is a strong wine in 2006, with licorice and earthy black cherry and black currant flavors intermixed with some smoke, burning embers, and floral undertones. Deep, medium to full-bodied, rich, and surprisingly round, with silky tannins, this wine should drink well for the next 15 years.
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Parker
Robert
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Robert
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Parker
Robert
This powerful, yet elegant effort was blended to perfection by winemaker Patrick Mahaney with the goal of highlighting the four Bordeaux varietals most loved by Bill – Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Petit Verdot
Though historically, Bill has focused his wine-making endeavors on single vineyard, single variety wines – his passion for Bordeaux, more specifically the wines of Chateaux Lafite, Mouton Rothschild, and Latour (a zeal born in his travels to France) had inspired the desire to create a Napa Valley Bordeaux style blend – a wine of truly exceptional quality and character – but one he would not craft until the conditions were perfect.
2006 brought just such a vintage and Tetra was born. The name "Tetra" (meaning four, four parts, having four) was chosen to signify the four "noble" Bordeaux varieties other than Malbec selected for the blend and the four vineyards from which the varieties were being sourced.
Undoubtedly proving its merit over and over, Napa Valley is a now a leading force in the world of prestigious red wine regions. Though Cabernet Sauvignon dominates Napa Valley, other red varieties certainly thrive here. Important but often overlooked include Merlot and other Bordeaux varieties well-regarded on their own as well as for their blending capacities. Very old vine Zinfandel represents an important historical stronghold for the region and Pinot noir is produced in the cooler southern parts, close to the San Pablo Bay.
Perfectly situated running north to south, the valley acts as a corridor, pulling cool, moist air up from the San Pablo Bay in the evenings during the hot days of the growing season, which leads to even and slow grape ripening. Furthermore the valley claims over 100 soil variations including layers of volcanic, gravel, sand and silt—a combination excellent for world-class red wine production.