Winemaker Notes
A vivid and complex wine, the 2016 Gallo Signature Series Cabernet Sauvignon is a beautifully fragrant, penetrating wine. Its rich, vivid fruit flavors include raspberry bramble and concentrated blackberry, which weave through dried herbs and a touch of melted licorice. The assertive tannins melt smoothly into a long, toasty oak finish streaked with Tahitian vanilla.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This is the best ever from here with iodine, currant bush, blackberries and blackcurrants. Pine needles, too. Full-bodied, firm and silky. Driven and vertical. Needs time to come around, but already a beauty. Drink after 2022.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley comes sashaying out of the glass with floral notes of violets and lilacs over a core of warm cassis, baked black cherries and mulberries plus touches of cedar and pencil lead. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is an exercise in poise with lovely fine-grained tannins and well-knit freshness supporting the bold black fruits, finishing long and fragrant. Terrific value!
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Wine Enthusiast
Plush, sizable tannins wrap around a generous core of oak and body in this robust red. Black currant, cedar and crushed rock flavors complement each other, leading the way to a finishing touch of mocha.
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.