Winemaker Notes
The 2004 Darioush Signature Cabernet Sauvignon is a classic Napa Valley vintage: ripe, lush and profoundly concentrated, yet epitomizing the stylistic profile and poise that is valued so highly by this winery.
Naturally smaller yields and a warmer than average season conspired to produce berries with remarkable saturation and richness, while Darioush's more moderate-climate estate vineyards ensured the finished wine's fully-developed complexity and nuance are not lost beneath extravagant ripeness.
Alluring floral and licorice aromatics combine with the sweet scent of crushed blackberries to introduce this seriously sexy wine. Finely-knit tannins support a rich, full-bodied mid-palate of crème de cassis, European dark chocolate, espresso, earth and exotic allspice. Though best decanted in its youth, this sophisticated beauty will age gracefully for the next decade.
Professional Ratings
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Connoisseurs' Guide
Darioush Khaledi has proven to be the master of the rich, fleshy, full-bodied style, and once again, his winery delivers a bottling with a virtually unrivalled combination of intensity, drama and hedonistic pleasure. In its youth, the wine is at once both open and brooding, and its invitingly sensual aromas and flavors, while seeming to ask for early enjoyment, are far from fully developed. One can easily partner this lush wine with juicy filet mignons or a standing rib roast, but putting it in the cellar for half a decade or more seems the better idea.
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.