Winemaker Notes
Blend: 82% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot, 6% Petit Verdot, 2% Cabernet Franc
Professional Ratings
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: Over the past four decades, Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon has solidified its position as one of the world's most important categories in the wine world. This feeling isn't a slight to Bordeaux, Burgundy, Tuscany, Piedmont and other highly visible regions and their ultra-premium wines. I am just saying this because so many consumers love the Napa Valley and can understand it easier than many wine growing areas. The 2015 Duckhorn Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon is an excellent effort. TASTING NOTES: This wine shows up with loads of black fruit, some oak, and even some boysenberries in its aromas and flavors. Its layered, satisfying, and crisp palate makes it a natural choice with a standing rib roast. (Tasted: May 11, 2018, San Francisco, CA)
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Wine Enthusiast
This is made from grapes grown at Three Palms Vineyard, alongside other valley floor and mountain fruit, including 10% Merlot and smaller percentages of Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc and Malbec. Smooth, lush and robust in dark cherry and plum, it's fruit forward and full bodied, with considerable ripeness.
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.