Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The most difficult Beringer Cabernet Sauvignon to find and purchase is the 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from Beringer's 25-acre Chabot Vineyard. This wine spends two years in 100% new French oak, and gives every indication of being a 20-30-year wine. Readers should keep an eye out for the release in March, 1997 of the 1992 Cabernet Sauvignon Chabot Vineyard. This wine has thrown off some of its formidable tannin, and should prove to be one of the potential candidates for the wine of the vintage. It exhibits an opaque purple color, followed by a huge, smoky, Asian spice, black fruit, mineral, and earthy-scented nose that soars from the glass. Thick, full-bodied, and powerful, with layers of fruit, this is an awesomely rich (too concentrated for some readers?) wine that is accessible, but in need of another 2-3 years of cellaring. The 1992 should be at its peak of perfection by 2002-2005, and keep for another 15-20 years.
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Wine Spectator
Dark, ripe, rich and concentrated, brimming with juicy plum, cherry, currant, anise and black cherry flavors. Shows uncommon finesse and polish for a young wine, finishing with ripe, full tannins. Delicious.
As California's longest continuously operating winery, Beringer has been defining Napa Valley winemaking since it was founded by Jacob and Frederick Beringer in 1876. By continuing that pioneering spirit, Beringer established many 'firsts' as leaders in the wine industry. They were one of the first gravity fed facilities and among the first to operate using hand dug caves and cellars. Beringer were the first to give public tours in 1934, starting a Napa Valley hospitality tradition. They are the first and only winery to have both a red and a white wine named #1 Wine of the Year by Wine Spectator Magazine. Today, they proudly celebrate and remain true to their pioneering legacy.
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.
St. Helena is in the heart of the Napa Valley, nestled between Calistoga to the north and Rutherford on its southern border. On its western side, the Mayacamas Mountains guard it from the cooling effects of the Pacific Ocean; to its east stand the Vaca Mountains. In conjunction, these mountain ranges serve to lock in summer daytime heat. But in the evening, cool air from the San Pablo Bay funnels up through the valley, creating very chilly nights. It isn’t uncommon for temperatures to drop 50 degrees, a shift that promotes a balance of sugar ripeness and acidity in wine grapes.
St. Helena contains a plethora of different soil types in a small area, which have been enhanced over centuries by rain runoff from both mountain ranges. Its vineyards cover a variety of terrain, spreading across the bucolic valley floor and its benchlands.
These ideal topographic and climatic growing conditions easily caught the attention of early winemaking pioneers. In fact, St. Helena is the birthplace of Napa Valley’s commercial wine industry. Dr. Crane founded his cellar in 1859, David Fulton in 1860 and Charles Krug in 1861.
Today there are no less than 400 separate vineyards planted within the 12,000 acres that make up the St. Helena appellation.
Revered most for its red wines based on Bordeaux varieties, namely Cabernet Sauvignon, the St. Helena appellation is also a source of superior Syrah, Zinfandel and Sauvignon blanc.