Winemaker Notes
This vintage is very characteristic of the Sullenger Vineyard. As with most of the wines from 1999, there is a focus on riper fruit flavors of plum and cherry. The vines from the new section of the vineyard add layers of blackberry, plum and cherry to further round out the wine, deepening its flavor and complexity. Notes of coffee and herb, coupledwith sweet, toasty oak, add to the finish. There is considerable volume in this wine, but not necessarily more tannins.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Enormously complex, with currant jam, black cherry and nicely integrated mocha and vanilla flavors from toasty oak that are mellow and ripe, with lingering chocolate overtones. Supple, round tannins frame the concentrated finish, showing a trace of heat.
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Connoisseurs' Guide
Still offering a good look at the distinctly curranty fruit of Cabernet as it arrives at its twenty-third year and a wine that exhibits a good deal of aged complexity while possessing surprising stamina and energy, this nicely developed offering has the structure and light tannic grip to keep for a bit. While it is far from fragile and in no danger of precipitous decline.
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Wine Enthusiast
This smells like Bordeaux, from the cassis and earth all the way to the foresty aromas that some might even call green. The palate is a smooth ride of currant, plum and bitter chocolate, all with a cool, herbal underbelly.
One of the most prestigious wines of the world capable of great power and grace, Napa Valley Cabernet is a leading force in the world of fine, famous, collectible red wine. Today the Napa Valley and Cabernet Sauvignon are so intrinsically linked that it is difficult to discuss one without the other. But it wasn’t until the 1970s that this marriage came to light; sudden international recognition rained upon Napa with the victory of the Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars 1973 Cabernet Sauvignon in the 1976 Judgement of Paris.
Cabernet Sauvignon undoubtedly dominates Napa Valley today, covering half of the land under vine, commanding the highest prices per ton and earning the most critical acclaim. Cabernet Sauvignon’s structure, acidity, capacity to thrive in multiple environs and ability to express nuances of vintage make it perfect for Napa Valley where incredible soil and geographical diversity are found and the climate is perfect for grape growing. Within the Napa Valley lie many smaller sub-AVAs that express specific characteristics based on situation, slope and soil—as a perfect example, Rutherford’s famous dust or Stags Leap District's tart cherry flavors.