Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon Patriarch is the soaring superstar of the vintage. Blueberry, incense, graphite and blackberry notes that are incredibly precise and intense jump from the glass of this inky/purple wine. It is full-bodied, opulent and has a broad, savory mouthfeel. This is outrageous Napa Cabernet Sauvignon. Drink over the next two decades.
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Wine Spectator
An amazingly seductive style, rich, smooth and creamy on entry, with mocha, dark berry and blueberry notes rounding out nicely midpalate. Ends with a long, smooth-textured finish, reverberating with complex flavors. Drink now through 2029.
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Wine Enthusiast
A 100% varietal, single-vineyard estate wine, at the top of the producer's heap, this was given almost two years in French oak, half of it new, the other half once-filled. Juicy, it offers refined layers of herb, currant and clove, making for a soft, complex and lightly spicy experience. With sizable structure and depth, it can be enjoyed now through 2022.
Cellar Selection
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James Suckling
A rich and savory wine with lots of fruit and grape skin character, yet it pulls it all together at the end with fresh acidity and a citrus undertone. Full to medium body. Clean finish.
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.