Winemaker Notes
Blend: 41% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Petite Sirah, 17% Malbec, 11% Petit Verdot, 9% Cabernet Franc
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
"We don't have anything in mind about what the final blend will be each year," winemaker Andy Erickson said about this Blacktail blend. "We want to create something that is unique to the place this year." The 2019 Blacktail Proprietary Red Blend MMXIX is produced from 41% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Cabernet Franc, 17% Malbec, 22% Petite Sirah and 11% Petit Verdot. Deep garnet-purple in color, it sings of exotic spices—fenugreek, cloves, star anise, and cinnamon stick—over a core of plum preserves, warm cassis and incense, plus a touch of forest forest floor. The medium to full-bodied palate is packed full of bright, juicy fruit, supported by taut, grainy tannins, finishing very long and layered.
Rating: 96+ -
James Suckling
Cassis, tamarind, ripe fruit, dark chocolate, rust and fine spices. Fleshy and rich, but focused on the palate, with really fine-grained tannins that seep through the full-bodied palate that’s full of dark berries. Plush, very flavorful and long. Drink or hold.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2019 Proprietary Blend Blacktail is 41% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Petite Sirah, 17% Malbec, 11% Petit Verdot, and the rest Cabernet Franc. This kitchen sink-like blend has tons of character and is medium to full-bodied, with ripe yet firmer tannins, lots of red and blue fruits, and complex, expressive notes of spicy oak, graphite, and scorched earth. Give it a year or three and enjoy over the following decade.
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.