Winemaker Notes
Blend: 88% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Merlot, 4% Petit Verdot
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
As for the red wines, the 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon Blueprint, which comes from four sources spread from Southern Napa Valley in Coombsville to the largest source – a vineyard in Calistoga – is a blend of 88% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Merlot and 4% Petit Verdot aged 17 months in about one-half new French oak. Dense ruby/purple, it has the dramatic ostentatious and flamboyant style of 2012 imprinted all over it. Terrific cassis fruit, a hint of blueberry, licorice, tar, and camphor all are present in this full-bodied opulent, sexy and sensual wine. Drink it over the next decade.
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Connoisseurs' Guide
Governed first and last by deep and defined Cabernet fruit and decked out with very nice oak in both kind and measure, Lail’s 2102 Blueprint is already showing a fair sense of layered richness even though it has the build and the tannic structure of wine destined to grow for many years.
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.