Winemaker Notes
Deep ruby red. Wonderful intensity of aroma - black fruits, dried herb, fragrant mint with a smoky peppery edge – a really pinpoint display. Tight, firm palate on opening with immediate freshness and classic Larkmead rocky-graphite signature. Develops to blackcurrant and black cherry purity with a spicy red licorice aromatic component. Menthol, bitter chocolate and sweet cedar flavors gradually emerge balancing the fruit which becomes deep, rich and resonant. Tannins are perfectly integrated, broad and chewy. In my fourteen years at Larkmead this is not only my favorite wine we’ve produced but also, for me, the most classic, evocative expression of the vineyard. The Larkmead signature courses through the wine from first whiff to penetrating finish – it’s unmistakable. The wine shows the concentration I’d expect from this low cropping year alongside the inherent liveliness and energy that’s a product of our decision to harvest relatively early in the ripening season. Never a blockbuster, it requires patience - coaxing from the glass. It’s a slightly introspective yet highly detailed wine that, most significantly, does not rely on pure size to express itself. Instead, the combination of complex, layered elegance and the precise integration of vineyard, fruit and barrel components really propel the wine to its long pure echoing finish and guarantees it will develop effortlessly in bottle for twelve to fifteen years. Our finest Solari yet.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Menthol and lemon grass with dark fruits and citrus on the nose. Blueberries and blackberries too. Full body, yet reserved and tight with a wonderful finish. Tar, berry and chocolate. Chewy and round. Wonderful. 92% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Petit Verdot.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Made from 92% Cabernet Sauvignon and 8% Petit Verdot (550 cases), the prodigious 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon Solari Reserve is an opaque purple-colored, multidimensional wine displaying silky sweet tannin along with copious quantities of blackberry, creme de cassis, crushed rock, licorice and camphor characteristics. Powerful yet elegant with layers of depth, this is a wine of great nuance, complexity and nobility. A dead-ringer for the compelling 2007, the 2008 should drink well for 20-25 years or more.
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Wine Spectator
(includes 8% petit verdot, as well as the cabernet sauvignon that would normally go into the winery's Lark bottling): Full ruby-red. Subdued but pure aromas of blue- and blackberry, bitter chocolate and sexy oak, complicated by a gravelly quality. Compellingly sweet and palate-saturating, with terrific breadth to the black fruit, licorice, mineral and violet flavors. This one conveys an almost grapey impression of primary fruits and finishes with mouthcoating tannins and echoing minerality. Very impressive.
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.