Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
This hedonistic Cabernet Sauvignon's saturated purple color is accompanied by an exuberant, sweet, enveloping fragrance of smoky new oak, and jammy blackberry and cassis fruit. In the mouth, this lavishly wooded, black fruit-filled Cabernet is extremely full-bodied, with superb levels of fruit, glycerin, and extract. Like many 1994 Cabernet Sauvignons, it possesses extraordinary equilibrium, with the sweet tannin giving the wine considerable accessibility. The finish lasts for nearly 30 seconds. This will be a fun wine to drink young, but do not discount its aging ability as it should last for two decades.
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Wine Spectator
Enormous complexity, depth and richness, with deeply concentrated blackberry, cherry, currant, anise and cedary dill and coconut scents, this is a powerful yet elegant young wine that is in peak drinking condition, finishing with a dash of herb and tobacco.
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.