Winemaker Notes
Blend: 36% Merlot, 28% Petite Syrah, 21% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Syrah, 4% Zinfandel
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
An intriguing offering from the Jackson family, the 2012 Proprietary Red this innovative blend of 36% Merlot, 20% Petite Sirah, 21% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest Syrah and Zinfandel is outstanding. The wine comes from multiple vineyards in Northern California in Napa Valley and is a reasonably good-sized cuvée of 5,000 cases. The wine shows plenty of peppery, meaty, blackcurrant fruit, sweet cherries, loamy soil undertones, plenty of licorice and spice box. This is a very Mediterranean styled, deep, fleshy red wine to drink over the next 2-3 years.
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.