Newton The Puzzle 2007
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Winemaker Notes
This opulent and opaque wine opens with delicate scents of dried flowers mingled with anise, black cherry, cassis and cedar aromas layered with dark fruit. The palate explodes with concentrated black fruit – cherry and plum – with hints of black licorice, spicy vanilla and dark chocolate powder accented by an appealing earthy, forest floor character. The firm structure and well-integrated tannins suggest this wine will reward careful cellaring.
The elegance and finesse of The Puzzle makes it an exceptional accompaniment to a lamb roast or Winemaker Chris Millard suggests savoring it with a nice aged Cheddar at the end of a meal.
Professional Ratings
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Tasting Panel
Good dark ruby. Slightly medicinal aromas of black raspberry, dark-chocolate oak, licorice, musky tobacco and violet convey considerable sex appeal, with the Merlot and Cabernet Franc components coming through clearly today. Dense, suave and lively, with blackberry, violet and licorice pastille flavors given shape by bright acidity. This juicy, well-delineated wine combines enticing sweetness with serious energy, with an element of saline minerality contributing to its impression of grip. Finishes with substantial building, fine-grained tannins and rising length. As primary and backward as this wine is today, it's already long on flavor and personality. And it's much better than it appeared to be when I first tasted it in 2011: distinctly higher-pitched and more precise. Rating: 92(+) Points.
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Wine Enthusiast
This Cabernet Sauvignon-based Bordeaux blend is very rich and elaborate, a major league hitter for its spectacular fruit and tannins. The flavors are deep and concentrated, suggesting perfectly ripened blackberries, cassis and milk chocolate, with a minerality that must come from the soil. It's also very soft, in the modern style.
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Newton was founded in 1977 by English businessman Peter Newton and his Chinese wife Su Hua. Peter Newton was already renowned as a pioneer of winemaking in the Napa Valley, having founded the Sterling Winery near Calistoga in the 1960s. The Newtons transformed one square mile of rolling hillside in Spring Mountain into one of the Napa Valley’s most prestigious estates, whose wines have graced the official dinners of several US presidents.
The Newton estate encompasses 170 acres of prime Napa Valley terroir, distributed over four separate, wholly owned vineyards: Spring Mountain, Yountville, Mount Veeder and Carneros.
Newton is renowned for producing wines that are uniquely characterful expressions of varietals emblematic of the Napa Valley, notably Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon. Working patiently with nature, we are committed to precision viticulture and winemaking techniques yielding wines that are acclaimed for their balance, harmony and full, abundant flavors.
Undoubtedly proving its merit over and over, Napa Valley is a now a leading force in the world of prestigious red wine regions. Though Cabernet Sauvignon dominates Napa Valley, other red varieties certainly thrive here. Important but often overlooked include Merlot and other Bordeaux varieties well-regarded on their own as well as for their blending capacities. Very old vine Zinfandel represents an important historical stronghold for the region and Pinot noir is produced in the cooler southern parts, close to the San Pablo Bay.
Perfectly situated running north to south, the valley acts as a corridor, pulling cool, moist air up from the San Pablo Bay in the evenings during the hot days of the growing season, which leads to even and slow grape ripening. Furthermore the valley claims over 100 soil variations including layers of volcanic, gravel, sand and silt—a combination excellent for world-class red wine production.