Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A linear and refreshing red with violets, roses, sandalwood and mushrooms. Medium-bodied and linear with a touch of mint, bay leaf and sage. Firm and crisp with a racy finish. So youthful and and vivid. Really beautiful now. Ethereal already.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 1993 should be as prodigious as the 1992. It is an opaque purple-colored wine with spectacular ripeness, purity, and potential. Dense, full-bodied, with a chocolatey, toasty, mineral, and blackcurrant-scented nose, this wine has a rich, full-bodied, chewy texture nicely buttressed by ripe tannin. In addition, the wine reveals more noticeable tannin in the finish, particularly when it is compared to the 1992 or 1994. This is another 20-25 year wine.
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Wine Spectator
Fresh, vibrant plum, black cherry and currant fruit is still tight and focused in this well-balanced, structured wine, which is poised to age on. Offers more subtlety, with hints of black cherry, plum, black olive and roasted herb. The finish is long, and the tannins have traction.
Undoubtedly proving its merit over and over, Napa Valley is a now a leading force in the world of prestigious red wine regions. Though Cabernet Sauvignon dominates Napa Valley, other red varieties certainly thrive here. Important but often overlooked include Merlot and other Bordeaux varieties well-regarded on their own as well as for their blending capacities. Very old vine Zinfandel represents an important historical stronghold for the region and Pinot noir is produced in the cooler southern parts, close to the San Pablo Bay.
Perfectly situated running north to south, the valley acts as a corridor, pulling cool, moist air up from the San Pablo Bay in the evenings during the hot days of the growing season, which leads to even and slow grape ripening. Furthermore the valley claims over 100 soil variations including layers of volcanic, gravel, sand and silt—a combination excellent for world-class red wine production.