Winemaker Notes
Blend: 43% Cabernet Sauvignon, 41% Cabernet Franc, 16% Merlot and Petit Verdot
Professional Ratings
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A blend of 43% Cabernet Sauvignon, 41% Cabernet Franc, and the rest Merlot and Petit Verdot, the 2006 Proprietary Red offers a dense plum/purple color along with a big, sweet kiss of cassis, licorice, and hints of smoke, tobacco leaf, and roasted coffee beans. Deep, pure, velvety textured, and opulent, this is an atypically seductive, lush 2006...
-
James Suckling
This is polished and very pretty. Minerals and stone in the nose, with dark fruits and spices. Juicy blueberries and currants as well. Full bodied, with a spicy, chewy finish. The palate has a nice stoney character that turns to currants and lead pencil. Tight and silky, but balanced. Just starting to come around now.
-
Wine Spectator
A very ripe style, pushing ripeness to the edge of pruny without being heavy. Rich, layered and full-bodied, turning elegant and gaining depth, with currant and blackberry fruit and fine-grained tannins.
Undoubtedly proving its merit over and over, Napa Valley is a now a leading force in the world of prestigious red wine regions. Though Cabernet Sauvignon dominates Napa Valley, other red varieties certainly thrive here. Important but often overlooked include Merlot and other Bordeaux varieties well-regarded on their own as well as for their blending capacities. Very old vine Zinfandel represents an important historical stronghold for the region and Pinot noir is produced in the cooler southern parts, close to the San Pablo Bay.
Perfectly situated running north to south, the valley acts as a corridor, pulling cool, moist air up from the San Pablo Bay in the evenings during the hot days of the growing season, which leads to even and slow grape ripening. Furthermore the valley claims over 100 soil variations including layers of volcanic, gravel, sand and silt—a combination excellent for world-class red wine production.