Winemaker Notes
Blend: 35% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 26% Cabernet Franc, 7% Petit Verdot
Professional Ratings
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Their flagship wine, the 2013 Proprietary Red Dancing Hares is a blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 34% Merlot and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. The color is a saturated ruby/purple, the nose sightly more restrained than the Mad Hatter, but intense, deep and promising. The wine is extremely full-bodied, with notes of chocolate, espresso, crème de cassis, licorice and blackberry, this has killer intensity, super full-bodied richness, but is relatively light on its feet for this kind of mass and richness. This is a fabulous wine and certainly a great 2013, which is saying something in a vintage that is this incredible. Drink it over the next 15-20 years.
Rating: 98+ -
Wine Spectator
For all its size, this is more nuanced than you might expect, as the rich core of dark berry, mocha and spice flexes tannic muscle. The flavors glide as this opens up, with the tannins working their way into a more agreeable mode. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Drink now through 2029. 850 cases made.
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.