Winemaker Notes
The 2021 Cervantes Cabernet Sauvignon shows the balance and discretion Cervantes is looking for in their wines. A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, and Petite Sirah, it is ripe with raspberry, blueberry, and boysenberry notes and surrounded by aromas of flint, sage, chocolate and incense. The tannins are rounded by aging for 20 months in 50% new French oak barrels, providing a soft texture and a framework on which the wine's character is built. Proportionally, this wine expresses everything Cervantes loves about their beloved land in this far corner of the Napa Valley, and should age for many years in bottle. Hedonistically, it is incredibly satisfying, especially when enjoyed with friends and family around a table.
Blend: 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Malbec, 6% Petite Sirah
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Ripe blue fruit, savory herbs, and a touch of lavender and sagebrush all emerge from the 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon, a medium to full-bodied, charming, layered, ripe 2021 that's already drinking nicely. It should keep for a decade.
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James Suckling
Black berry, black olive, bark and pine cone character follow through to a full body with round and chewy tannins with black currants and dark chocolate. It’s savory and harmonious for Pope Valley. Better in a couple of years. Try after 2025.
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Vinous
The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa Valley) is an inky, full-throttle wine. Black cherry, plum, black currant, chocolate, licorice and copious new oak are all dialed up. There's not a ton of subtlety here, but this is impeccably done for this style.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Cervantes's 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon is a blend of 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Malbec and 6% Petite Sirah. All sourced from the family's Pope Valley ranch, it's slightly herbal—the nose includes lots of bay leaf and sage—but also boasts ripe cherries and cassis. In the mouth, it's full-bodied, dusty and tannic, perhaps a bit rustic and less silky in style compared to many of Andy Erickson's wines, but it is a genuine, robust expression of one of Napa's outlying areas.
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.