Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley showed brilliantly, with lots of cassis, tobacco, and cedary spice aromatics as well as medium to full-bodied richness. Made from 100% Cabernet aged 26 months in new oak, it's balanced and has wonderful freshness, no hard edges, and a great finish. It's going to keep for 15-20 years.
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Wine Spectator
Ripe and focused, with a core of raspberry, mulberry and black currant pâte de fruit notes that meld nicely with singed apple wood, dried anise and red tea nuances through the chaparral-tinged finish. Still a bit reserved in feel and progressing slowly -- hallmarks of the vintage. Best from 2024 through 2036.
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Wine Enthusiast
This brawny wine offers a big structure of firm tannins and full body packed with deep blackberries and dark plums that fill it out well. It is lightly oaked, relying mostly on ripe fruit to power its expression.
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James Suckling
Aromas of blackberry, plum and oolong. Full-bodied with fine, gripping tannins. Red and black fruit mix on the palate with good intensity. Chewy finish. Best from 2022.
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.