Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon Materium is a beautiful example of a wine with extraordinary purity and delineation. It possesses copious quantities of charcoal, barbecue smoke, graphite, blackberries, blueberries and creme de cassis. Full-bodied power is clearly on display, but the wine has a purity and balance that are sensational to behold. This classic Cabernet is a superstar of the vintage.
-
Wine Spectator
Rich, plush and full-bodied, with a wealth of dark berry flavors and pretty oak shadings, offering a mix of blackberry, plum, licorice and spice flavors that fan out nicely on the palate, followed by a tight, tapered finish. Drink now through 2024.
-
Wine Enthusiast
This is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, although it doesn’t say so on the label. The wine is awesome and impeccable in the modern Oakville style of intensely ripe fruit and sweet, soft tannins. The flavors of raspberries, cherries, cocoa and sweet oak are incredibly delicious. It’s soft enough to drink now, but will hold for 6–8 years.
A noble variety bestowed with both power and concentration, Cabernet Sauvignon enjoys success all over the globe, its best examples showing potential to age beautifully for decades. Cabernet Sauvignon flourishes in Bordeaux's Medoc where it is often blended with Merlot and smaller amounts of some combination of Cabernet Franc, Malbecand Petit Verdot. In the Napa Valley, ‘Cab’ is responsible for some of the world’s most prestigious, age-worthy and sought-after “cult” wines. Somm Secret—DNA profiling in 1997 revealed that Cabernet Sauvignon was born from a spontaneous crossing of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc in 17th century southwest France.
Home to some of the most sought-after Cabernet Sauvignon in America, Napa Valley’s Oakville district stretches across the center of Napa's valley floor and foothills between the Vaca and Mayacamas Mountains. This AVA is home to the legendary To Kalon Vineyard and Martha's Vineyard, as well as many powerhouse wineries including Screaming Eagle, Silver Oak, Robert Mondavi, Opus One, Far Niente and Groth.
The climate is generally warm and agreeable, resulting in year after year of favorable vintages. Summer days see a gentle tug of war between warmer inland air and the cool air coming in from the San Pablo Bay, creating an ideal environment to grow red varieties. Oakville's diverse soils, namely ancient sea bedrock, clay and gravel, are well-drained, and perfect for high-caliber viticulture.
Cabernet here is often bottled varietally but is also popular in Bordeaux Blends. Oakville wines are known for their silky, sensual textures, structured tannins, dark and brooding fruit and lovely aromatics. These age-worthy and prestigious wines are favored by collectors throughout the world.