Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2016 Acumen Peak Cabernet Sauvignon shows up with a long and sturdy appearance on the palate. TASTING NOTES: This wine offers attractive aromas and flavors of black fruit, licorice, and spice. A shading of oak adds additional complexity. Pair it with a well-marbled, grilled ribeye. (Tasted: December 2, 2020, San Francisco, CA)
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Wine & Spirits
After seven years at Alpha Omega, Henrik Poulsen joined Denis Malbec on this project in 2013. Acumen focuses on two organically farmed vineyards, 116 acres in all, that Malbec and viticulturist Garrett Buckland helped founder Eric Yuan locate when he was looking to establish a winery in Napa Valley. This is the first vintage Poulsen made on his own, a powerful mountain wine, with black fruit that completely fills the mineral-driven tannins, even as the austere structure holds it tight, without any trace of harshness. A grand wine, delivering rose scents in the midst of its power, this is built to last.
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.
Just northeast of Napa city, Atlas Peak boasts some of Napa Valley’s highest elevation vineyards. Here the intense sunlight coupled with cool, nighttime temperatures produce grapes that are perfectly ripe, balanced and concentrated. The appellation is rich in volcanic soils and excels in the production of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.