Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Aged 10 months in new French oak, the intensely varietal 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon Serpico boasts a fragrant black currant, floral, tobacco leaf, and spice box-scented nose along with intense fruit, wonderful purity, superb density, and remarkable elegance as well as definition. It will be interesting to see how this beauty evolves and ages. While accessible, it appears to have the stuffing and balance necessary to evolve for a decade or more.
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.
Known for opulent red wines with intense power and concentration, McLaren Vale is home to perhaps the most “classic” style of Australian Shiraz. Vinified on its own or in Rhône Blends, these hot-climate wines are deeply colored and high in extract with signature hints of dark chocolate and licorice. Cabernet Sauvignon is also produced in a similar style.
Whites, often made from Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc tend to be opulent and full of tropical, stone and citrus fruit.