Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Just about pure perfection in a glass, the 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon checks in as 100% varietal sourced from top sites including Dr. Crane, Las Piedras, Weitz, Oakville Ranch, and Vine Hill. This deep purple/blue-hued beauty boasts a stunning bouquet of pure crème de cassis and blackberry fruits as well as complex forest floor, graphite, chocolate, and spicy oak. Full-bodied, rich, sexy, yet incredibly elegant and seamless on the palate, this is pure Napa Valley magic that has appeal even today yet the class to evolve for 30 years in cold cellars.
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Wine Spectator
This shows the vivid fruit of the vintage. with a really lovely array of cassis, plum preserves and violet that streams through, carried by a perfectly embedded graphite spine and backed by a long finish that glistens with anise and sweet bay leaf notes. Best from 2022 through 2036.
Covering the most vine acreage in the state compared to any other red wine variety, Cabernet Sauvignon produces as much wine in California as Merlot and Pinot Noir combined. The state’s diverse terrain and microclimates, as well as the freedom of its winemakers, allow for an incredible range of wine styles from this single grape.
California’s most famous region—and especially for Cabernet Sauvignon—is the acclaimed Napa Valley. While Cabernet is successful throughout the world, rarely has it achieved such merit as it does from the Napa Valley. At this point the two are so intrinsically linked that it is difficult to discuss one without the other.
Napa’s closest neighbor, Sonoma County, does an impressive job keeping up with Napa’s fame and glory. Alexander Valley, Sonoma Mountain, Moon Mountain and Knights Valley contribute to the lot of some of California’s top-rated Cabernet Sauvignon.
Lake County in California’s North Coast has become a focus for some of Napa’s more respected growers. From the Central Coast come iconic examples of classic California Cabernet; Lodi and the Sierra Foothills are great budget-friendly sources of amicable Cabernets.