Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Fantastic blueberry and blackberry aromas. Black licorice and lead pencil. Graphite. Full body with very tight and focused tannins. A precise center palate that seduces with every sip. Love the walnuts, dark chocolate and dark fruit on the finish. Drink in 2020.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A barrel sample, the deep garnet-purple colored 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon The Pact features a deep garnet-purple color and youthful aromas of blueberries, crushed black cherries and blackcurrants with subtle notions of dried herbs, menthol and mocha. Full-bodied and bursting with black fruit flavor, it has a firm, chewy backbone and just enough freshness, finishing with lingering spicy notes.
Barrel Sample: 92-94 -
Wine Enthusiast
From the exciting appellation that is Coombsville, this wine starts with beautiful aromas of violet and clove before opening up on the palate to a generous array of blackberry, plum and black pepper. Full bodied, it shows elegance and a sense of balance that holds up through a lengthy finish.
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Wine & Spirits
Reflecting the relative cool of Coombsville, this takes its time to develop from spicy, rooty flavors toward floral notes and an open, more welcoming character. The wine’s generosity comes forward with air, a dynamic play between fine red fruit above and earthy tannins underneath. Accessible now with time in a decanter, this is ready to greet anything meaty off the grill.
A noble variety bestowed with both power and concentration, Cabernet Sauvignon enjoys success all over the globe, its best examples showing potential to age beautifully for decades. Cabernet Sauvignon flourishes in Bordeaux's Medoc where it is often blended with Merlot and smaller amounts of some combination of Cabernet Franc, Malbecand Petit Verdot. In the Napa Valley, ‘Cab’ is responsible for some of the world’s most prestigious, age-worthy and sought-after “cult” wines. Somm Secret—DNA profiling in 1997 revealed that Cabernet Sauvignon was born from a spontaneous crossing of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc in 17th century southwest France.
Situated in the southeastern corner of Napa Valley in the Vaca range, the vineyards of the Coombsville AVA enjoy a long growing season mitigated by cool, San Pablo Bay fog.