Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
-
Decanter
A powerfully intense, full-bodied wine with heady black fruit and wild herbs leading to a deep concentration of black cherry and blackberry fruits on the palate. A panoply of tremendously enticing baking spices emerge as well, redolent of toffee and caramel and toasty oak complemented by a rich thread of earthy minerals all resolving with excellent focus. Winemaker Thomas Rivers Brown is able to cherry-pick some of the best fruit from this site, and it shows.
-
Jeb Dunnuck
The 8,000-case 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley goes largely to distribution and has to be one of the great values in Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon out there. Classic darker currants, tobacco, chocolate, and some gravelly earth notes all define the nose, and it's medium to full-bodied, has a round, supple, layered mouthfeel, and a great finish.
-
Wine Spectator
Polished, with a core of plum sauce and warm cassis, this version has an enticing toasty frame and a backdrop of sweet tobacco and singed anise. Pitch perfect for near-term consumption.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
One of the greatest bargains in Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, Caterwaul's 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley draws largely on co-proprietor Matt Hardin's Pope Valley vineyards, but it bolsters those barrels with other bits and pieces from winemaker (and co-proprietor) Thomas Rivers Brown's other projects. Boasting gently herbal notes of sage and bay leaf that perfectly complement the ripe black cherries, it's full-bodied, rich, concentrated, velvety and long.
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.