Winemaker Notes
The 2017 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon is one of our favorite bottlings to date. Accentuated with 10% Merlot, this wine is classic Larkmead – aromas of purple flowers, red cherries, cedar, warm gravel, and graphite fill the glass. With time, the nose on this wine continues to evolve, revealing plum, leather, and tobacco accents. The palate is youthful and vibrant, balancing on the lighter side of blue and black fruits and berries. The wine is in constant motion, playfully dancing across the palate until it dissolves into dusty, fine tannins. A second sip introduces you to cherry candy and wet rock minerality. A third sip brings forest floor bramble and dried herb notes. Though the product of a stressful and dramatic vintage, this wine resonates with immense purity, poise, and grace.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
With 10% Merlot, this is a structured red that's built by broad tannins but approachable in its youth. Earthy peat, dried herb, cedar and cigar box play against a depth of dark cherry, cassis and plum, while fresh acidity permeates beneath, making for a cohesive package.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2017 Larkmead Cabernet Sauvignon is a standout amongst any group of fine wines. TASTING NOTES: This wine comes right at you and takes over your palate. It brings aromas and flavors of intense black fruit, black earth, oak, and stones to the forefront. Pair it with a grilled, well-marbled ribeye topped with minced shallots and a side of triple crème blue cheese. (Tasted: March 29, 2021, San Francisco, CA)
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James Suckling
This is really subtle and complex with black truffles, blackberries, lavender and rosemary. Medium to full body. Firm and silky tannins with beautiful fruit. Linear and racy. Love the balance and finesse.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Starting with the 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon, it comes all from the estate in the north part of the valley and is 90% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Merlot. It has a deep, serious bouquet of scorched earth, graphite, crushed rocks, new saddle leather, and smoked tobacco all ground by a core a ripe dark fruit. With medium to full-bodied richness on the palate, building tannins, and the classic, focused style of the vintage, it's going to benefit from 4-5 years of bottle age and keep for two decades.
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Wine Spectator
Sleek and focused, featuring loganberry and huckleberry fruit, lined with incense, dried anise and singed mesquite notes. That savory combo runs through the finish, adding texture and contrast to the fruit.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Composed of 90% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Merlot, aged in French oak barrels, 75% new, the 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon (White Label) sports a deep garnet-purple color, revealing notes of blackcurrant pastilles, Black Forest cake and black raspberries with touches of wild sage, pencil lead and damp soil with a waft of cedar. Medium-bodied, the palate has compelling vivacity and freshness with plenty of juicy black fruit and well-played, grainy tannins, finishing with lovely purity.
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.