Winemaker Notes
The 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon is a classic Alexander Valley wine with medium body, great fruit flavors and smooth, structured tannins. Winemaker Kevin Hall added 12% Merlot for structure, a touch of Cabernet Franc for floral notes and Malbec and Petit Verdot for color. This is an elegant wine with aromas of black cherry, cassis, plum, vanilla, oak and a hint of chocolate. In the glass there are lush flavors of cherry, cassis, blackberry and chocolate. The 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon evolves with each sip. This is a graceful wine with great balance and a long, lingering finish. Enjoyable upon release, this wine will reward those with the patience to lay down a few bottles.
Blend: 83% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Merlot,3% Cabernet Franc, 1% Malbec, 1% Petit Verdot
Professional Ratings
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Wine & Spirits
This is remarkably good cabernet, more elegant than most wines at more than twice the price, with the stature that’s more often found in mountain-grown tannins. Here, those, detailed, rocky tannins support juicy flavors of pomegranate and anise. It feels cool and elemental, a wine to buy by the case and enjoy with anything from pasta with a spicy boar sugo to simple roast beef.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Wetzel Family Estate is deep ruby in color, the nose offering up baked black plum, blackcurrant and black cherry fruit to begin, fleshing out to leather, graphite and cast-iron pan with red cherries and chocolate notions. Medium to full-bodied, it's classically styled in the mouth, with a firm frame of chewy tannins and a long, refreshing finish.
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.
Nearly a northern extension of Napa Valley, Alexander Valley starts just north of the small, Knights Valley, and is just a few minutes drive from the Napa town of Calistoga. It is Sonoma County’s hottest AVA. But the Russian River, which runs through the valley, creates cooler pockets and its soft, alluvial soil is ideal for grape growing, especially Cabernet Sauvignon. In fact, some believe that Alexander Valley Cabernets truly rival the best from Napa Valley and many of the heavy-hitter producers have largely invested here.
In addition to Cabernet Sauvignon, which makes up over 50% of plantings, Merlot and old vine Zinfandel thrive here. Ample, fleshy Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc dominate white wine production. Some old-vine plantings of Grenache have also been discovered and more recent experiments with Sangiovese and Barbera show great promise.