Winemaker Notes
Blend: 100% Cabernet Sauvignon
Professional Ratings
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
The 2018 Hoopes Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon delivers power with style. This wine excels with aromas and flavors of fragrant spices, ripe blackberries, and hints of oak. Enjoy it with a grilled, well-marbled Porterhouse. (Tasted: October 26, 2024, San Francisco, CA)
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Jeb Dunnuck
On another level, the 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville is a beauty that’s 100% varietal and spent 29 months in 60% new French oak. Beautiful cassis, dried flowers, leafy herbs, and underbrush notes define the bouquet, and it’s medium to full-bodied, has classic Cabernet character, ripe tannins, and a seamless mouthfeel. Drink this pretty, layered, impeccably made Cabernet Sauvignon over the coming 15 years or so.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from the family's estate vineyard, with maturation in 60% new French oak. Marked on the nose by scents of dusty earth, cedar and cassis, it's full-bodied on the palate but supple. A bit more extracted and clearly intended to age longer than Hoopes's Napa Valley offering, this is a fine Cabernet to age up to two decades, with a long, softly dusty finish.
Rating: 94+
At Hoopes Family Vineyard and Winery, the love of wine and farming are priority number one. Family owned and operated, dedicated to crafting wines that seamlessly capture the relationship between grape-grower and winemaker. The wines marry old-world-farming and taste profiles with new-world fruit flavors and ripeness. Since 1999, the goal with the flagship Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon has been to capture the truest expression of the old-vine vineyard's terroir. Planted in 1983 by Spencer Hoopes, it was previously a fruit source for a number of famous estates until the winemaking began being done in house. When the second-generation Proprietor Lindsay Hoopes took the reins, she hired Heidi Barrett prodigy Anne Vawter as Winemaker. Anne broadened the scope to include very limited production Sauvignon Blanc, Rosé, Chardonnay, Syrah and Merlot, showcasing the diverse appellations of Napa Valley. Along with Dante’s Block, the Reserve Cabernet named after our beloved canine mascot, these boutique wines are only available direct from the winery.
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.
Home to some of the most sought-after Cabernet Sauvignon in America, Napa Valley’s Oakville district stretches across the center of Napa's valley floor and foothills between the Vaca and Mayacamas Mountains. This AVA is home to the legendary To Kalon Vineyard and Martha's Vineyard, as well as many powerhouse wineries including Screaming Eagle, Silver Oak, Robert Mondavi, Opus One, Far Niente and Groth.
The climate is generally warm and agreeable, resulting in year after year of favorable vintages. Summer days see a gentle tug of war between warmer inland air and the cool air coming in from the San Pablo Bay, creating an ideal environment to grow red varieties. Oakville's diverse soils, namely ancient sea bedrock, clay and gravel, are well-drained, and perfect for high-caliber viticulture.
Cabernet here is often bottled varietally but is also popular in Bordeaux Blends. Oakville wines are known for their silky, sensual textures, structured tannins, dark and brooding fruit and lovely aromatics. These age-worthy and prestigious wines are favored by collectors throughout the world.