Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate, nearly all Cabernet Sauvignon blended with a dollop of Petit Verdot, reveals pure crème de cassis, chocolate, espresso and a touch of new barrique. It was aged 20 months in 75% new French oak, and 1,500 cases were produced. With sweet tannin, a delicious, elegant suppleness, and a medium to full-bodied mouthfeel, it can be enjoyed over the next 10-15 years.
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Wine Spectator
Brimming with ripe, juicy wild berry, plum and blackberry notes, this is supple-textured, with silky tannins that let the flavors glide across the palate. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Drink now through 2024. 500 cases made.
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.
One of Napa Valley's most historic sub-appellations, Yountville spreads through some of the valley's ideal cooler sites and enjoys success with a handful of different and significant grape varieties.
Syrah competes strongly with Cabernet Sauvignon here for optimal vineyard real estate followed by Pinot noir, Pinot blanc and Sauvignon blanc.
This sub-AVA of Napa Valley is rich in the history that makes Napa Valley what it is today, and not just for red wines. Moët & Chandon entered the California winemaking business via Yountville in 1973 with the establishment Domaine Chandon. Their goal has always been to produce top quality méthode champenoise sparkling wines.
Christian Moueix, originally responsible for managing Chateau Petrus and La Fleur-Petrus in Pomerol, arrived in Yountville in the early 1980s. He formed a partnership with Rohin Lail and Marcia Smith, inheritors of Napanook vineyard from their father John Daniel of Inglenook in Rutherford. In 1995 Moueix became sole owner of Napanook and chose the name Dominus, which today produces some of Napa’s highest scoring, age-worthy Bordeaux Blends.