Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine & Spirits
The clay-loam soils here built a finely structured cabernet in 2012, a wine with complex red fruit flavors that touch on plum, fresh pomegranate, rose hips and cherry pits. Gracious tannins contribute an earthy spice, maintaining a textural finesse that is neither abrasive nor slick. The tannins have the give of a fresh forest mushroom, a cushioned resilience that suggests this will age beautifully, developing complexity over the next ten years.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon John C. Sullenger is a softer wine than the Hayne, shows nice dark plum, black cherry, blackcurrant fruit, forest floor and a bit of spice. It is medium to full-bodied, shows light to moderate tannin and will better in 2-3 years than it shows now. The wine is long, with lots of upside potential.
Rating: 91+ -
Tasting Panel
Smooth and earthy with spice, plum and black raspberry; balanced and long.
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.
Home to some of the most sought-after Cabernet Sauvignon in America, Napa Valley’s Oakville district stretches across the center of Napa's valley floor and foothills between the Vaca and Mayacamas Mountains. This AVA is home to the legendary To Kalon Vineyard and Martha's Vineyard, as well as many powerhouse wineries including Screaming Eagle, Silver Oak, Robert Mondavi, Opus One, Far Niente and Groth.
The climate is generally warm and agreeable, resulting in year after year of favorable vintages. Summer days see a gentle tug of war between warmer inland air and the cool air coming in from the San Pablo Bay, creating an ideal environment to grow red varieties. Oakville's diverse soils, namely ancient sea bedrock, clay and gravel, are well-drained, and perfect for high-caliber viticulture.
Cabernet here is often bottled varietally but is also popular in Bordeaux Blends. Oakville wines are known for their silky, sensual textures, structured tannins, dark and brooding fruit and lovely aromatics. These age-worthy and prestigious wines are favored by collectors throughout the world.