Winemaker Notes
This wine has aromas of blackberry, cocoa, anise, cola, red licorice and violets with toasted oak and vanilla highlights. The wine attacks the palate softly with dark bold fruit flavors of plum and bramble berry. The tannin structure completes the mid palate and leads to a full yet soft and lush finish. This makes the wine enjoyable now, and should also age well for another 8-10 years.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The least expensive effort, and a top value for a Napa Cabernet, is the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa. A dark ruby/plum-colored blend of 96% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest Petit Verdot and Malbec, it offers up notes of plums, cassis and blue fruits, silky tannins, a fleshy, ripe style and not a hard edge to be found. This impressive effort is the type of Cabernet Sauvignon that normally costs 2-3 times the price. Drinkable now, this sleeper of the vintage will age for a decade or more.
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.