Winemaker Notes
Always produced from Cabernet Sauvignon grapes from the cooler southern end of Napa Valley, the Arietta wines are typically very expressive and varietally on point. Given the strong character of the 2021 vintage, this is especially true. The wines are at once dark and bright: there is a remarkable black-purple hue to the wine, and yet also a lively, complex perfume. Notes of black fruits, sandalwood, dark chocolate and thyme give the wine a multi-dimensional tone. On the palate, the wine is dense but accessible. Tannins are firm but not overly astringent. Nineteen months of age in two-thirds new French oak barrels has helped to give the wine polish, while preserving the structure and aromatic purity. With a light decanting, it is absolutely enjoyable now, and will benefit from cellaring as well.
Professional Ratings
-
Jeb Dunnuck
The star of the show is the 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon, a stunningly pure, full-bodied Cabernet Sauvignon that comes from two vineyards in the Coombsville appellation. Reminding me of a great vintage of Ch teau Mouton Rothschild with its broad, expansive texture, this inky-hued beauty has tons of ripe black fruits, notes of leafy herbs, tobacco, and cedar pencil, ripe tannins, a stacked mid-palate, and one heck of a great finish. Hide bottles for 4-5 years if you can, and it will drink brilliantly over the following 15-20 years.
-
Vinous
The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon is packed with inky black fruit, grilled herbs, licorice, incense and scorched earth. This potent, explosive Cabernet is super-impressive. Even with all its natural intensity, the 2021 remains quite refined. All this needs is time to soften.
Rating: 95+ -
James Suckling
Textural and well-balanced with dark cherries, cassis, warm herbs, roasted meat, bay leaves and some baking aromas on the nose. Medium to full body with sinewy tannins. Compact and chewy at this stage with a juicy core of dark berries at the finish. 100% cabernet sauvignon. Try from 2026.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Sourced from the Meteor Vineyard in Coombsville and made under the watchful eye of Andy Erickson, Arietta's 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon starts with gentle herbal notes, adds masses of cassis and black cherries, then hints of vanilla and cedar. It's medium to full-bodied, concentrated yet silky, soft, smooth and elegant—not a huge blockbuster, but it's charming and harmonious, with a wash of softly dusty tannins on the 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.
Situated in the southeastern corner of Napa Valley in the Vaca range, the vineyards of the Coombsville AVA enjoy a long growing season mitigated by cool, San Pablo Bay fog.