Winemaker Notes
Blend: 51% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Malbec, 15% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc, 8% Petite Verdot
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
A supple, graceful style, with creamy-textured cherry, plum and raspberry notes, picking up a dash of mocha before ending with firm, fine-grained tannins. Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Drink now through 2024.
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Wine & Spirits
A broad cabernet with clean fruit providing plenty of flesh over its structure, this is infused with smoky tannins. It’s that tannic impression that lasts for now, though time may lengthen the fruit flavors and build on their simple lines.
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.