Winemaker Notes
From the glorious 2023 vintage, this Blueprint Cabernet Sauvignon is deep purple-red, showing captivating aromas of sandalwood, ripe plum, coffee bean and cocoa. Flavors are manifold, including black raspberry and cherry, dark chocolate, and huckleberry. Creamy, full-bodied, supple, bright and juicy at its core, it finishes long, elegant, fine and richly-layered. This is as good as Blueprint Cabernet Sauvignon gets.
Professional Ratings
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Vinous
The 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon Blueprint is a fabulous entry-level offering from Robin Lail. Dark, ample and seductive, the 2023 delivers on all fronts. Blackberry, graphite, dried herbs, leather and chocolate are all dialed up. Blueprint is a blend from some of the top sites in Napa Valley. It's one of the very best Napa Valley Cabernets in its price range. The 2023 is perhaps the best vintage of this bottling ever.
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Wine Enthusiast
Depth of color in the glass (violet and ruby red) offers the first indication of the layered aromas and flavors to follow. This wine is plush and also balanced, with a combination of juicy, dark fruits, integrated spices, chocolate, and a graphite mineral finish that gains freshness and length with further sipping. Melting tannins meet persistence for a delicious, satisfying wine
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James Suckling
Lovely depth of flavor and fruit-driven freshness, with aromas of graphite, black olives, potpourri and spices. The palate is refined and pure, with a rounded, textural mouthfeel that leads to a savory, earth-driven finish.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Lail's 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon Blueprint—a blend of fruit from eight sites and aged in 50% to 60% new French oak—delivers an experience that's consistent with what readers have come to expect. It's inky in hue and emphasizes dark fruit, like black cherries and cassis, while remaining medium- to full-bodied yet silky, with fine-grained tannins and a balanced, elegant, softly dusty finish. It's a solid value, even more so if you find it discounted.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Deep purple and ruby-hued, the 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon Blueprint is sourced from a broad mix of sites across the valley, including Calistoga, Coombsville, Howell Mountain, Oakville, Rutherford, Stags Leap District, and Yountville. Based on 97% Cabernet Sauvignon and 3% Petit Verdot and aged 17 months in 65% new French oak, it offers deep blackcurrants, plums, chocolate, woodsmoke, and black cherry notes. It's medium to full-bodied, with spicy oak, a round, layered mouthfeel, and outstanding length. Drink 2025-2035.
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.