Winemaker Notes
Blend: 75% Cabernet Franc, 12% Merlot, 11% Cabernet Sauvignon, 2% Petit Verdot
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This wine shows a fresh and vibrant nose with some elderberries, cherries, tobacco and sage. Medium to full body with firm tannins. A fresh structure and excellent drinkability. Drink or hold.
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Wine Spectator
Dark and winey, with steeped black currant and fig fruit still curled up and waiting to expand, while notes of humus, tobacco and singed savory flit around. Offers a long, smoldering finish. Big wine. Best from 2022 through 2032.
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.