Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Deep garnet with some brick in color, this is giving a spicy nose with notes of cloves, Chinese five spice and ripe plums plus hints of cherry compote and smoked game. The palate is youthful and has plenty of muscular fruit with firm, fine-grained tannins plus enlivening acid, finishing long.
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Wine Spectator
Very tight and compact, dense and focused, with vibrant blackberry, graphite and black cherry fruit that's intense, concentrated and persistent.
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.