Winemaker Notes
The 2021 My Favorite Neighbor Cabernet Sauvignon fills the glass with a seamless culmination of black cherry, cassis and warm spice. On the palate, you are rewarded with a full body displaying blackberry and plum with underlying notes of tobacco. An additional layer of red fruit and a pop of acid, combined with well- integrated tannins and a beautifully crafted structure, leave nothing to be desired. This is a serious wine that can be enjoyed and respected by all.
Blend: 83% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Petit Verdot, 7% Malbec, 2% Petit Sirah, 1% Syrah
Professional Ratings
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Tasting Panel
Considering that this blend of 83% Cabernet Sauvignon with 7% each of Petit Verdot and Malbec (along with bits of Petite Sirah and Syrah) was sourced from Paso Robles but bottled in Napa, the "Neighbor" part of this wine's name makes sense-and tasting it explains the "Favorite" part. It's very flavorful, with notes of black cherry and cassis and an acid structure that's ready to rip, making it just perfect for restaurants.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon is smoking good, with a full-bodied, rich, opulent wine that has classic cassis and darker blue fruits as well as leafy tobacco, baking spice, and bouquet garni notes. This textured, ripe, sexy wine stays nicely balanced, has ripe tannins, and a great finish. It's another awesome value.
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James Suckling
Dark berries, cedar, walnuts, sweet spices and pencil shavings on the nose. Full-bodied and so polished and linear, with a chalky texture to the tannins. Wide and layered. Beautiful fruit. Lingering and refined.
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Wine Enthusiast
Dense aromas of toasted walnut, cocoa and coffee bean meet with dark berry and wild mint on the savory nose of this bottling. Chalky tannins frame the sip, where espresso and toasty dark-chocolate flavors give depth to the baked berry core.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon is blended with 7% Petit Verdot, 7% Malbec, 2% Petite Sirah and 1% Syrah and matured for 20 months in 55% new French oak. It has a nose of red cherries, tobacco leaves, vanilla and allspice. The medium-bodied palate has easygoing yet nuanced fruit, powdery tannins, seamless acidity and a long finish laced with oak spices. 27,500 cases were made.
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Vinous
The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon is dark and brooding, mixing dusty sage, currants and mocha with lifting hints of mint. This is texturally thrilling, silky, and nearly creamy in feel. A tinge of sour citrus, tart red and black fruits and graphite minerality add form toward the close. It firms up through the finish, classically structured and long. A pretty bitter sensation gives a fine punctuation to the experience.
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.
The largest and perhaps most varied of California’s wine-growing regions, the Central Coast produces a good majority of the state's wine. This vast California wine district stretches from San Francisco all the way to Santa Barbara along the coast, and reaches inland nearly all the way to the Central Valley.
Encompassing an extremely diverse array of climates, soil types and wine styles, it contains many smaller sub-AVAs, including San Francisco Bay, Monterey, the Santa Cruz Mountains, Paso Robles, Edna Valley, Santa Ynez Valley and Santa Maria Valley.
While the Central Coast California wine region could probably support almost any major grape varietiy, it is famous for a few Central Coast reds and whites. Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel are among the major ones. The Central Coast is home to many of the state's small, artisanal wineries crafting unique, high-quality wines, as well as larger producers also making exceptional wines.