Winemaker Notes
Blend: 95% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3.5% Cabernet Franc, 1% Merlot, 0.5% Petit Verdot
Professional Ratings
-
James Suckling
Full-bodied with lots of layered fruit and round, creamy tannins. The palate shows lovely ripe-berry character with chocolate and hazelnut and a long, flavorful finish. Hints of black truffles. Plenty going on here with a firm framework that gives the wine form and interest. Try it after 2022.
-
Wine Enthusiast
Showing balance within a full-bodied frame, this wine is juicy in blueberry, black cherry and a hint of wild game. Oak adds spice and length, giving the plush, polished tannins room to expand and grip as a finishing touch of coffee bean builds.
-
Jeb Dunnuck
A darker, meatier wine than the Rubicon release, the 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon offers lots of blackcurrants, leafy tobacco, chocolate, and damp earth-like aromas to go with a medium to full-bodied, mouth-filling, concentrated style on the palate. It shows the vintage’s purity as well as its freshness, yet brings a rich, expansive vibe that's a joy to drink. Give bottles 3-4 years and enjoy over the following two decades.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A solid example of Napa Valley Cab, Inglenook's 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon features notes of cherry, tobacco and cassis, along with a hint of eucalyptus. A blend of 95% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3.5% Cabernet Franc, 1% Merlot and 0.5% Petit Verdot, it's medium to full-bodied, silky and focused, with decent length on the finish.
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.