Winemaker Notes
Our Chateau Buena Vista Cabernet Sauvignon celebrates and honors Buena Vista's indelible presence and significant contributions to the California wine world. Buena Vista has returned to Napa Valley, where Cabernet is the King, if not the Count.
Grapes for this 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon were harvested primarily from three vineyards across Napa Valley. The Bartolucci Vineyard, located in St. Helena, lends mid palate and generosity to the wine while, the Chateau Dallage Vineyard in Oak Knoll, provides texture and plushness. The tannic backbone comes from grapes in the Juliana Vineyard located in the eastern hills of Napa. The wine went through extended maceration and was aged for 28 months in 39% new French oak before being racked and bottled unfiltered.
A dark ruby red in color, this Cabernet Sauvignon offers fragrant aromas of black currants and cranberries. Full-bodied and balanced with layered flavors of plum, blackberries and cherries with notes of dark chocolate, oak and a touch of spice. Juicy and round tannins lead to a succulent finish.
Critical Acclaim
All VintagesBright and overt in feel, with a nice welcoming blast of açaí berry, plum and blackberry fruit that has melded nicely with hints of alder, sassafras and bay leaf. Shows good energy throughout, with enough grip to cellar short-term. Best from 2021 through 2028.
Before there were vineyards in every valley north of San Francisco, before Napa and Sonoma were household names, before there was a California wine world at all, there was Buena Vista. Founded in 1857, Buena Vista is California’s first premium winery, and its history is as colorful as it is proud. Today, the legend is being re-born under the vision of Jean-Charles Boisset, with Winemaker Brian Maloney in the cellar. The winery's future is its past… its vivacious, colorful, and pioneering past!
Buena Vista Winery has a rich, delicious heritage as the first premium, and certainly the most colorful, of all of the wineries in California. Founded in 1857 by Agoston Haraszthy, the self-proclaimed “Count”, Buena Vista Winery is California’s first premium winery. The Count’s passion for innovation and excellence not only led to California’s first premium winery, but also to the development of the California wine world as we know it today. The Count saw the grand vision for producing fine wine in Sonoma, and Buena Vista was his vinicultural laboratory. He created the first gravity flow winery in California and excavated the first wine caves. The Count had been the first to experiment with Redwood barrels for aging and fermenting, and he brought over 300 different varieties from Europe to California. Buena Vista joined the Boisset Collection in May 2011. Today, Proprietor Jean-Charles Boisset is returning Buena Vista to its original glory with the complete restoration and re-opening of the champagne cellars, which have been unavailable to the public for over 20 years. Buena Vista wines are being driven to greater heights under Winemaker Brian Maloney, including the reintroduction of Sonoma as well as Napa Valley, in honor of where it all began!
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.