Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Showing similarly to its last showing, the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon offers more blue fruits, iron, tobacco, and graphite, and it's a much more focused, straight, elegant wine compared to the more exuberant 2015. I love its purity of fruit, and it has terrific tannins, a notable sense of freshness, and the class to evolve for other 20-25 years. Best After 2021
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Medium to deep garnet-purple in color, the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate has a very classy, forthright nose of warm blackcurrants, preserved plums and wild blueberries with underlying notions of cigar box, graphite, crushed rocks, bouquet garni and espresso. Full-bodied, firm and built like a brick house, it has a solid line of ripe, grainy tannins and seamless freshness supporting the tightly knit, muscular black fruit, finishing long and earthy. This should age incredibly!
Rating: 97+
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.