Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
This 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from Robin Lail and her husband is still a baby in terms of development. Notes of sweet damp earth, forest floor, charcoal, graphite, black currants and white chocolate emerge from this full-bodied, complete, textured wine. It needs another 2-4 years of cellaring to resolve its tannin, but it is a long, pure, rich, riveting example of Cabernet Sauvignon that should drink well for another two decades or more.
Rating: 94+
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Wine Enthusiast
Made from Howell Mountain grapes, yet rich and approachable in youth. There are huge, chewy tannins, but they're sweet, and frame black currant and cherry-chocolate fudge flavors. This makes it sound like a dessert wine, but it's dry and balanced and entirely satisfying.
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.