Winemaker Notes
This wine is a textbook expression of mountain-grown fruit—powerful, precise, and layered. Aromatics open with intense notes of blackcurrant, graphite, and crushed volcanic rock. On the palate, the wine is firmly structured yet balanced, with concentrated flavors of blackberry, dark cherry, and cassis wrapped in fine-grained tannins. The elevated site lends freshness, carrying through a long, mineral-driven finish. Built to age, this wine shows both strength and elegance—a true reflection of its rugged Atlas Peak origins. sun-drenched exposure, offering a rich freshness and distinct complexity.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Dark-fruited with a lovely perfume, depth of flavor and a mineral, volcanic feel, showing aromas of black and red currants, dried herbs, iron earth, wet stones and violets. The taut, focused palate offers precision, nerve and a silken, polished texture, supported by superfine tannins. From grapes grown at 1,800 feet in red volcanic earth. Excellent.
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.
Just northeast of Napa city, Atlas Peak boasts some of Napa Valley’s highest elevation vineyards. Here the intense sunlight coupled with cool, nighttime temperatures produce grapes that are perfectly ripe, balanced and concentrated. The appellation is rich in volcanic soils and excels in the production of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.
