Hewitt Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2015
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Suckling
James
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
The 2015 Hewitt Cabernet Sauvignon is big and bold, with incredible depth, richness and opulence on the palate. The lush aromas and flavors explode into sumptuous blackberry, blueberry, black cherry and cassis, followed by hints of roasted espresso bean, dark mocha, and rum-raisin. Layered, intense, and inky, this wine is multi-dimensional with incredible persistence and density. Sure to age for many years, this is a wine that truly exemplifies both the personality of Hewitt Vineyard and the outstanding, concentrated depth and elegance of the 2015 vintage. Hewitt Cabernet Sauvignon is meant to be age-worthy, however, if you can’t wait to drink it, we suggest decanting to allow the flavors to evolve and reveal their complexity and elegance.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A soft and subtle red with dark-berry and cedar character. Hints of walnuts. Medium to full body, round tannins and a fresh and clean finish. Shows focus and balance. Very approachable now, but better in 2022.
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The historic Hewitt Vineyard resides on the famed Rutherford Bench, a narrow ribbon of gravel-rich alluvial soils on the western side of the Napa Valley that has - since the late 1800s - produced California's best Cabernet Sauvignon.
William Hewitt purchased this property in 1962 and received guidance in planting the vineyard from legendary Beaulieu Vineyard (BV) winemaker André Tchelistcheff. BV purchased Cabernet Sauvignon from Hewitt Vineyard and included it in its top wines for many years. When Hewitt Vineyard was offered for sale in 2000, Chalone Wine Group President Tom Selfridge, who began his career at Beaulieu and knew first-hand the vineyard's extraordinary quality, jumped at the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to add this treasure to the company's portfolio.
Today, Hewitt Vineyard produces only estate Cabernet Sauvignon from its extraordinary property. Through this exclusive focus, Hewitt is a leader in Rutherford's winemaking renaissance.
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.
The Rutherford sub-region of Napa Valley centers on the town of Rutherford and covers some of Napa Valley’s finest vineyard real estate, spanning from the Mayacamas in the west, to the Vaca Mountains on the other side of the valley.
Inside of the Rutherford AVA, bordering the Mayacamas, is a stretch of uplands called the Rutherford Bench. (These bench lands technically run the length of Oakville as well). Mountain runoff creates deep, well-drained, alluvial soils on the bench, giving vine roots plenty of reason to permeate deep into the ground. The result is wine with great structure and complexity.
Rutherford Cabernet Sauvingons and Bordeaux Blends garner substantial attention for their enticing fragrances of dusty earth and dried herbs, broad and juicy mid-palates and lush and fine-grained tannins. The sub-appellation claims some of the valley’s most prized vineyards today, namely Caymus, Rubicon and Beckstoffer Georges III.
It is also home to Napa’s most influential and historic personalities. Thomas Rutherford, responsible for the appellation's name, made serious investments here in grape growing and wine production between the years of 1850 to 1880. Gustave Niebaum purchased a large swath of land and completed his winery in 1887, calling it “Inglenook.” Today this remains the oldest bonded winery in California. Georges Latour founded Beaulieu Vineyard in 1900, making it the oldest continuous winery in the state. Latour also hired the famous enologist, André Tchelistcheff, a man credited for single-handedly defining the modern Napa winemaking style.