Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A close second (and who knows how they might perform at different times and with different foods) is the 2012 Cariad Proprietary Red Wine, made from grapes grown by David Abreu at his estate vineyards in Napa. This blend of 53% Cabernet Sauvignon, 26% Merlot, 12% Cabernet Franc and 9% Petit Verdot shows notes of burning embers/charcoal, blackberry fruit, licorice and floral notes, followed by a full-bodied, dense, layered wine. It has great purity, wonderfully sweet, integrated tannin, and a voluptuous mouthfeel and finish of close to 50+ seconds. This is a stunner that can be drunk now or cellared for another 25-30 years.
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.