Winemaker Notes
Blend: 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Cabernet Franc, 6% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This is the first year that this wine was made from 100% estate-grown fruit from Continuum’s Sage Mountain vineyard. A blend of 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Cabernet Franc, 5% Petit Verdot and 2% Merlot, the 2012 Proprietary Red has a deep garnet-purple color and gorgeous crème de cassis, exotic spices, fragrant earth and Christmas pudding notions with touches of chocolate box and licorice. The palate is full-bodied and deliciously concentrated, with a firm, grainy-textured backbone supporting the impressive mid-palate density, finishing very long and harmonious.
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Wine Spectator
A Pauillac-like expression of fresh-cut flowers, gravelly tannins and rich, graphite-laced currant and dark berry flavors. The tannins flex their sinewy strength, leading to a gutsy melted black licorice accent on the finish. Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Petit Verdot. Drink now through 2030.
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.