Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Vinous
The 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville (from Oakville Ranch) is stellar. The blend this year included 25% Cabernet Franc, which no doubt was a help in preserving freshness. Dark-fleshed fruit, espresso, lavender, licorice and cloves build in the glass. Dense and saturating, the 2015 has held up well.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Brought up in 60% new barrels, the 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon offers classic notes of lead pencil shavings, crème de cassis, white chocolate, licorice and hints of flowers. Ripe, yet pure, elegant and polished on the palate, with building tannin, it's a gorgeous Cabernet that has everything you could want from this vintage.
Rating: 95+ -
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon is deep garnet-purple in color and scented of cassis, blackberries and plums with a cedary undercurrent and earthy notions, plus a waft of Mediterranean herbs. Medium to full-bodied, it is very firm, muscular and taut in the mouth with very chewy tannins and a little hardness on the finish. This might soften, open and marry with time.
Rating: 93+ -
Decanter
Owner/winemaker Rosemary Cakebread adores Cabernet Franc and blends a good amount of it into her Cabernet Sauvignon. It lends floral aromas and a brightness boost to the dense, concentrated palate, with a café latte creaminess and forest floor savory edge. Very approachable now. Drinking Window 2020 - 2028
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.
Home to some of the most sought-after Cabernet Sauvignon in America, Napa Valley’s Oakville district stretches across the center of Napa's valley floor and foothills between the Vaca and Mayacamas Mountains. This AVA is home to the legendary To Kalon Vineyard and Martha's Vineyard, as well as many powerhouse wineries including Screaming Eagle, Silver Oak, Robert Mondavi, Opus One, Far Niente and Groth.
The climate is generally warm and agreeable, resulting in year after year of favorable vintages. Summer days see a gentle tug of war between warmer inland air and the cool air coming in from the San Pablo Bay, creating an ideal environment to grow red varieties. Oakville's diverse soils, namely ancient sea bedrock, clay and gravel, are well-drained, and perfect for high-caliber viticulture.
Cabernet here is often bottled varietally but is also popular in Bordeaux Blends. Oakville wines are known for their silky, sensual textures, structured tannins, dark and brooding fruit and lovely aromatics. These age-worthy and prestigious wines are favored by collectors throughout the world.