Winemaker Notes
Deep, dark, shiny eggplant with touches of black cherry and ruby. Explosion of cedar, cinnamon and cooking spices with black currant, thyme, rosemary, cigar box and graphite. Juicy entrance evolving on a dense mid-palate with granular tannins, but coated with a sweet fruit like plum, lingering on graphite and blackberry jam.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
This 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon is also brilliant, with plenty of darker cassis and currant-driven fruit to go with a full-bodied, concentrated, powerful style on the palate. It has the vintage's fresh, focused, concentrated.
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James Suckling
Cedar and blackberry with blackcurrant and violet aromas. Medium- to full-bodied with hints of hazelnut and chocolate and some olive undertones. So fresh and vivid at the end. All about balance and drinkability.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
The 2021 AXR Cabernet Sauvignon opens with powerful cassis aromas that signal its depth. On the palate, it’s a mouthful of sumptuous berries, broad and satisfying from start to finish. Pair this with Texas-style smoked beef ribs, a bold match for the wine’s intensity and richness. (Tasted: November 28, 2025, San Francisco, CA)
One of the most prestigious wines of the world capable of great power and grace, Napa Valley Cabernet is a leading force in the world of fine, famous, collectible red wine. Today the Napa Valley and Cabernet Sauvignon are so intrinsically linked that it is difficult to discuss one without the other. But it wasn’t until the 1970s that this marriage came to light; sudden international recognition rained upon Napa with the victory of the Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars 1973 Cabernet Sauvignon in the 1976 Judgement of Paris.
Cabernet Sauvignon undoubtedly dominates Napa Valley today, covering half of the land under vine, commanding the highest prices per ton and earning the most critical acclaim. Cabernet Sauvignon’s structure, acidity, capacity to thrive in multiple environs and ability to express nuances of vintage make it perfect for Napa Valley where incredible soil and geographical diversity are found and the climate is perfect for grape growing. Within the Napa Valley lie many smaller sub-AVAs that express specific characteristics based on situation, slope and soil—as a perfect example, Rutherford’s famous dust or Stags Leap District's tart cherry flavors.