Winemaker Notes
Blend: 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Merlot, 3% Petit Verdot, 2% Malbec, and 2% Cabernet Franc.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This shows wonderful density and texture with ripe tannins, as well as tangy acidity underneath. Full-bodied, yet tight and composed. Balanced and beautiful. Wonderful potential. 93-94 points
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: I have generally placed the Joseph Phelps Cabernet Sauvignon among my top Cabs in the $50-$100 range in any given vintage. The 2016 vintage could easily become my top wine in this price quadrant. TASTING NOTES: This wine hits all of the high notes. Its aromas and flavors of black fruits, dust, mint stay long and inviting on the palate. Pair it with a grilled extra thick pork chop and have a great dinner. (Tasted: March 1, 2019, San Francisco, CA)
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon is made up of 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Merlot, 3% Petit Verdot, 2% Malbec and 2% Cabernet Franc aged for 18 months in 48% new French and American oak and bottled in May/June of 2018. Deep garnet-purple colored, it sings of crushed blackcurrants, blackberry pie and blueberry compote with suggestions of cigar box, menthol, rose hip tea and baking spices. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is packed with vibrant black fruit laced with plenty of spicy sparks, framed by grainy tannins and oodles of freshness and finishing long with a menthol kick.
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Wine Enthusiast
This lovely wine shows exceptional quality and complexity within a bold, expansive package of thick, grippy tannin and layered flavors of blackberry, tobacco and smoked meat. It is blended with 7% Merlot, 3% Petit Verdot and 2% each of Malbec and Petit Verdot.
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Decanter
This wine is based around St Helena AVA fruit, with Oak Knoll, Rutherford and Stags Leap District providing supporting roles. In this vintage the blend is 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Merlot and small portions of Petit Verdot, Malbec and Cabernet Franc and it spent 18 months in 50% new French and American oak. Aromas of cocoa powder and espresso lead to an elegantly textured palate which reflects the cooler 2016 vintage. Long, fine-grained tannins extend on the finish. Drinking Window 2020 – 2035
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Jeb Dunnuck
Moving to the Cabernet releases, the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley comes from seven different estate vineyards and was brought up in a mix of French and American oak. It’s a seamless, pretty, medium-bodied effort that has plenty of complexity in its Bordeaux-like bouquet of cassis, leafy herbs, green tobacco, and violets. Drink it over the coming 15+ years.
Joseph Phelps Vineyards is a family-owned winery committed to crafting world class, estate-grown wines. Founded in 1973 when Joe Phelps purchased a former cattle ranch near St. Helena in the Napa Valley, the winery now controls and farms nearly 375 acres of vines on eight estate vineyards in St. Helena, the Stags Leap District, Oakville, Rutherford, Oak Knoll District, Carneros and South Napa Valley. In 1999, the Phelps family added 100 acres of vineyard property near the town of Freestone on the Sonoma Coast, where Phelps now grows Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.
Phelps is best known for its flagship Napa Valley blend of red Bordeaux varietals, Insignia, first produced in 1974. Awarded Wine Spectator's "Wine of the Year" in 2005, Insignia is widely regarded as a qualitative benchmark for California winemaking.
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.