Winemaker Notes
Intense color with a dark ruby center and garnet edges. Aromas of raspberry to dark plum with a bit of dark spice and a lift of sweet toffee. The palate is fruit-forward with dark lush blackberry, blueberry, and black cherry flavors, followed by a great mid-palate with chewy tannins on the finish. Overall, the wine has great balance and is approachable enough to drink young as well as the structure and tannins to age gracefully.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
This serious, structured wine has a very deep color, intense blackberry aromas and concentrated, almost thick flavors. Blended with 9% each of Malbec and Merlot, it has plenty of fine-grained tannins surrounding the ripe black fruits and dark-chocolate notes. Best through 2024.
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.
Reaching up California's coastline and into its valleys north of San Francisco, the North Coast AVA includes six counties: Marin, Solano, Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino and Lake. While Napa and Sonoma enjoy most of the glory, the rest produce no shortage of quality wines in an intriguing and diverse range of styles.
Climbing up the state's rugged coastline, the chilly Marin County, just above the City and most of Sonoma County, as well as Mendocino County on the far north end of the North Coast successfully grow cool-climate varieties like Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and in some spots, Riesling. Inland Lake County, on the other hand, is considerably warmer, and Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel and Sauvignon Blanc produce some impressive wines with affordable price tags.