Winemaker Notes
#60 Wine Enthusiast Top 100 Cellar Selections of 2019
The 2016 reminds Cathy of the 2014 with the volume turned up a bit. Redolentwith bright red currant, blueberry, tart cherry and darker plums, cassis andblackberry fruit, it is wildly complex. The fruit aromatics are complexed by baking spices and floral notes including dried rose petals and violets. Varietal dried herbs add yet another dimension. An alluring yin of minerality and snappy natural acidity play off against the yang of a broad, luscious mouth feel.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
In spite of a lightness to the palate weight, this is no doubt a serious wine. It's complex and integrated, with intriguing aspects of leather, earth and truffle. Soft and supple, it shows flavors of clove, tart red raspberry and cassis, and is deliciously memorable in every way. Enjoy 2026–2036.
Cellar Selection -
James Suckling
This has a great cassis and sour-cherry nose with hints of lilacs, wet stones and licorice. Quite powerful, but restrained and elegant, this medium-bodied Napa cab has impeccable balance with a very long, clean and dry finish that pulls you back to the glass for more. A great food-wine with just 13.1 per cent alcohol!
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Wine Spectator
Fresh in feel, with red currant, raspberry and damson plum fruit, laced with floral hints and backed by a subtle mineral edge on the finish. Offers a pure, streamlined character. Well done. Drink now through 2033.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The value-priced effort is the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon, all from St. Helena and brought up in barrel. This classic effort has lots of cassis, leafy herbs, some damp earth, and sappy spring flower aromas and flavors. Medium-bodied, beautifully balanced, and downright elegant, it's not a powerhouse, yet has terrific purity, balance, and length. I'd happily drink bottles over the coming decade or more.
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.