Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon Townsend Vineyard is a striking wine. Here the coolness of the year helps temper some of the riper tendencies in the wine. The 2009 Townsend reveals stunning balance in its expressive fruit, with multiple veins of underlying minerality that frame the exquisite, long finish. The integration of the oak (80% new) is fabulous. This is a super-impressive effort.
-
Wine Spectator
Combines a rustic edge of crushed rock and savory herb with firm dark berry, mocha and red and black licorice flavors, with loamy earth and tobacco leaf notes. Chewy throughout, yet persistent and focused on the finish. Drink now through 2022.
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.