Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
There’s a freshness to the blueberry and cassis aromas with gently spicy and tarry complexity. The palate delivers a very resolved and seamless core of ripe plums, blueberries and cassis. Full-bodied and fresh. Let this settle in, hold for 3-4 years.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Oso Malo (92% Cabernet Sauvignon and 8% Cabernet Franc aged 30 months in in 70% new oak) offers more purity and elegance as well as a beautiful array of crème de cassis, black cherries, and blueberries mixed with lead pencil and floral notes. Medium to full-bodied, beautifully textured, and concentrated, it has terrific purity as well as building, fine tannins. It will keep for 10-15 years.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Blended of 92% Cabernet Sauvignon and 8% Cabernet Franc, the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Oso Malo opens with earthy notions of tar, black soil, truffles and tree bark over a core of cassis and baked blackberries with touches of beef drippings and wood smoke. The palate is medium to full-bodied with plenty of juicy black fruit and earth-inspired flavors framed by chewy tannins, finishing on a peppery note.
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.