Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
-
Wine & Spirits
Far Niente lends two acres of its 100-acre Stelling Vineyard to Nickel & Nickel for this wine. The vines are in the hills of western Oakville, planted on volcanic loam over clay and gravel, one of the sweet spots for cabernet in the Napa Valley. This 2006 is seamless, a bright cassis-scented cabernet with zesty, youthful energy lifting it out of the substantial tannins. But even the tannis-are lovely and rich, fine grained so they feel like silk. Supple and compelling now, this will age with grace.
-
Wine Enthusiast
An enormously rich, extracted Cabernet, with dramatically layered blackberry, black currant and dark chocolate flavors, liberally accented with smoky new oak. The wine finishes bone dry, with considerable tannic astringency. Too tough and gritty to drink now, but should develop effortlessly over the next 6–8 years, at the very least.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The most expensive offering is the 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon Martin Stelling Vineyard. This is actually the base wine for the Far Niente Cabernet Sauvignon, with Nickel and Nickel culling out a small parcel planted in deep loamy, clay, and gravel soils. A big, pure Cabernet, it offers up abundant notes of creme de cassis, vanilla, spice box, forest floor, and licorice. Dense and full-bodied with a decided earthiness to its character as well as plenty of tannin in the finish, 5-6 years of cellaring will be beneficial. It is potentially a 30-year wine. 92+
-
Wine Spectator
Intense, focused, pure and structured, offering chewy currant and black and red licorice notes, with touches of mineral, sage, spice and cedar. Well-focused and firmly tannic. Best from 2011 through 2018.
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.