Winemaker Notes
The color is a dark garnet with an intensely deep red core. Aromas of vanilla toffee and roasted coffee beans are followed by wild dark fruit scents of blackberry and blueberry. The texture is sweet and opulent with a full palate concentration offering flavors of dark chocolate, black licorice and cassis. The long finish carries a firm tannic structure yet is polished and fine grained in style.
Professional Ratings
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Elevation 1147 should turn out to be an ageless beauty. Its opaque ruby/purple color is followed by sweet cassis notes intermixed with graphite, charcoal, truffles and earth. Full-bodied, opulent, rich and dense, it is still extremely young, but is loaded with potential. It reveals an underlying minerality as well as a floral component (often noticeable in wines produced from these high elevation vineyards on Pritchard Hill), as well as stunning texture and length. A sensational wine, it should be forgotten for 3-4 years and drunk over the following 25-30.
-
Wine Enthusiast
Buying and cellaring this expensive wine requires an act of faith, because right now, it's not showing much in the way of sophistication. It's massive in fruit, exploding on the palate with in-your-face blackberries, black currants and cherries, not to mention caramelized oak. It's almost rude. Your only choice is to age it. All indications, however, are in its favor. Try after 2014.
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.