Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This is an upgrade from the already excellent 2012. Lots of graphite, tar and dark berry aromas and flavors. Full body and chewy tannins that are polished and beautiful. Better after 2020.
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Wine Spectator
A rustic, rich and juicy style, with racy blackberry and currant flavors that are tempered by toasty, cedary oak, turning to mocha and crushed rock details on the finish.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon, which comes from hillside vineyards in Soda Canyon, is 88% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Merlot and 6% Cabernet Franc aged 20 months in about two-thirds new French oak. The wine displays notes of roasted herbs, white chocolate, blackcurrant, dusty and loamy soil undertones and an elegant, medium to full-bodied mouthfeel with nicely integrated wood, acidity and tannin. It is not the most complex, but it’s youthful, still coiled relatively tight and probably will evolve for 15-20 years.
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.