Winemaker Notes
A dark, exotic Cabernet Sauvignon nearly splitting at the seams with fruit and spice notes. The wine exhibits a completely opaque dark purple hue in the glass with a violet halo. Layered aromas suggest black currant, pine bough, pencil shavings and fresh leather. The dense, concentrated palate is marked by macerated blackberry, plum reduction, baking spices, loam, cocoa nib and crushed river rock. This big, complex wine will show it’s true colors after being decanted or with a few years in the cellar.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
A perennial value that readers should snatch up, the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon boasts a spicy, red and black-fruited, tobacco and cedar-driven profile as well as full-bodied richness on the palate. It's fruit loaded anad has a round, elegant mouthfeel, supple tannins, and a great finish. It’s well worth seeking out and ideal for drinking over the coming 10-15 years. Best After 2021
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
From a partnership between vineyard manager Matt Hardin and winemaker Thomas Rivers Brown, Caterwaul's 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley is a bit herbal, with minty overtones to the cassis fruit. Full-bodied and supple, with plenty of cedary notes on the long, slightly chocolaty finish, it's a blend of fruit from Pope Valley and Oak Knoll, filled out with some leftovers from other projects, but it's a solid wine and a decent value (for Napa) in its own right. With almost 5,000 cases produced, it should be reasonably available.
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.