Winemaker Notes
Blend: 67% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc and 5% Petit Verdot
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The pinnacle for Bordeaux varietals in the 38 years that I have been tasting California wines is 2013. There is just an extra gear in all of the wines, great acids, profound concentration and wonderful integrated tannin and massive concentration that should ensure an incredibly long life for all of the top efforts. In many ways it is a more recent version of 2001. The 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate Cuvée State Lane Vineyard, 67% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc and 5% Petit Verdot, spent 20 months in oak prior to being bottled unfiltered. They made 750 cases of it and it is a fabulous wine that is not far from being another perfect example. A classic, almost Médoc-like blend offers up notes of forest floor, blackcurrants, tobacco leaf, a touch of barrique, a saturated purple color, and, once past the gorgeous aromatics, a wine of phenomenal intensity, spectacular texture, length and overall balance. Look for it to evolve for 30 or more years.
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James Suckling
This shows wonderful tension and form with chocolate, currant and stone aromas and flavors. Full body, ultra-fine tannins and a long and flavorful finish. Very tight and stylish. Needs time to soften. But beautiful texture. Better in 2018 but who could wait.
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Wine Spectator
Pleasantly rustic and rugged, featuring a dense, chewy mix of savory herb, dried berry, anise, crushed rock and gravelly earth flavors, with pebbly tannins. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Best from 2020 through 2032. 650 cases made
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
One of Napa Valley's most historic sub-appellations, Yountville spreads through some of the valley's ideal cooler sites and enjoys success with a handful of different and significant grape varieties.
Syrah competes strongly with Cabernet Sauvignon here for optimal vineyard real estate followed by Pinot noir, Pinot blanc and Sauvignon blanc.
This sub-AVA of Napa Valley is rich in the history that makes Napa Valley what it is today, and not just for red wines. Moët & Chandon entered the California winemaking business via Yountville in 1973 with the establishment Domaine Chandon. Their goal has always been to produce top quality méthode champenoise sparkling wines.
Christian Moueix, originally responsible for managing Chateau Petrus and La Fleur-Petrus in Pomerol, arrived in Yountville in the early 1980s. He formed a partnership with Rohin Lail and Marcia Smith, inheritors of Napanook vineyard from their father John Daniel of Inglenook in Rutherford. In 1995 Moueix became sole owner of Napanook and chose the name Dominus, which today produces some of Napa’s highest scoring, age-worthy Bordeaux Blends.