Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: I never thought in a million years that I would be so enamored with a Yountville Cabernet Sauvignon. While I have enjoyed them throughout the years, it took the 2015 Nickel & Nickel State Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon to put me over the top. TASTING NOTES: From start to finish, this wine exhibits an excellence of tension. The wine's red and black fruits combined with licorice and mineral make it a superior wine. (Tasted: March 22, 2018, San Francisco, CA USA)
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James Suckling
Lots of tar, minerals and slate on the nose but also so much black fruit in the form of blackberries, blueberry cake and blackcurrant essence. This is so polished and agile on the palate yet very concentrated and intense. Full body, dense yet structured tannins, a vibrant line of acidity and a long finish. Drink in 2021.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Black cherries, currants, incense, tobacco leaf, and graphite all emerge from the 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon State Ranch, which comes from a site in Yountville and was raised in 51% new French oak. This terrific Cabernet is medium to full-bodied, has beautiful purity, and grows on you with time in the glass. It promises to drink well for 15-20 years.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Sporting a deep garnet-purple color and nose of cedar, baked blackberries and black cherry preserves with hints of menthol and violets, the 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon State Ranch is medium-bodied, elegant and fine, with just enough fruit, soft tannins and lovely freshness.
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.
One of Napa Valley's most historic sub-appellations, Yountville spreads through some of the valley's ideal cooler sites and enjoys success with a handful of different and significant grape varieties.
Syrah competes strongly with Cabernet Sauvignon here for optimal vineyard real estate followed by Pinot noir, Pinot blanc and Sauvignon blanc.
This sub-AVA of Napa Valley is rich in the history that makes Napa Valley what it is today, and not just for red wines. Moët & Chandon entered the California winemaking business via Yountville in 1973 with the establishment Domaine Chandon. Their goal has always been to produce top quality méthode champenoise sparkling wines.
Christian Moueix, originally responsible for managing Chateau Petrus and La Fleur-Petrus in Pomerol, arrived in Yountville in the early 1980s. He formed a partnership with Rohin Lail and Marcia Smith, inheritors of Napanook vineyard from their father John Daniel of Inglenook in Rutherford. In 1995 Moueix became sole owner of Napanook and chose the name Dominus, which today produces some of Napa’s highest scoring, age-worthy Bordeaux Blends.