Winemaker Notes
On the palate, the 2016 Solari has swagger. It parades acrossthe palate broadly and slowly, never out of step or out of place.Mouth-coating dark blue and black fruits remain at the core ofthis wine while a bright cherry note hits the top. The wine isaccented by cocoa, dried herb, and licorice and leaves behind aterracotta tannin that lingers behind as the wine keeps movingalong its finish. The 2016 Solari matches the quality of the 2013and 2010 Solari bottlings, two of the greatest wines Larkmeadhas ever put under cork.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This is a big and juicy red with dark berries, tobacco and hazelnuts. Iron too. Full body and layered, chewy tannins. Balsamic lilt to the red fruit on the palate. Ripe and beautiful. Brick and terracota character to the ripe fruit. Tar too. Needs time to soften. Try after 2023.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Medium to deep garnet-colored, the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Solari (Black Label) (made from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon) bursts from the glass with vibrant black and red cherry preserves, dark chocolate, crushed black currants and warm plums scents plus hints of spearmint, roses, underbrush, truffles and bay leaves. The medium to full-bodied palate delivers a fantastic intensity of black fruit and savory layers, supported with a frame of wonderfully ripe, fine-grained tannins and great freshness, finishing long and minerally.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Another deep, powerful wine, the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Solari (100% Cabernet Sauvignon aged 21 months in 72% new French oak) reveals a ruby/purple-hued color as well as ample black, black fruits, charcoal, graphite, and tobacco-laced aromas and flavors. While it’s still in the firm, austere style of all these 2016s, this cuvée is one of the more rounded, supple, and textured, and is certainly the most drinkable today. Nevertheless, it needs at a minimum 7-8 years of cellaring to start to approach its window of prime drinking and will keep for decades.
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Wine Enthusiast
Entirely varietal and made from a tiny yielding section of the estate vineyard, a force of nature and mineral. A substantial nose of baked black fruit, coffee bean and chewy, grippy tannin give it a tenacity and weight that finds length enough to smoothen out the sharp edges, dried herb and clove. This is one to let settle; enjoy best from 2026–2036.
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Wine Spectator
Bright red currant, raspberry and damson plum coulis flavors race through, with tweaks of savory and sassafras as well. Rich and polished in feel, with a well-embedded singed juniper thread on the finish. Distinctive and long. Best from 2020 through 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.