Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Fantastic aromatics with blackberries, blackcurrants and iodine. Licorice, too. Medium to fulll body, fine and velvety tannins and a very polished and gorgeous finish. Caressing and dialed in. Why wait? An intellectual wine here. Lovely now.
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Wine Spectator
A remarkable effort, engagingly rich and concentrated, with a deep, firm mix of licorice-shaded blackberry, currant, graphite, dried herb and cedary oak notes. The flavors hold and gain, leading to a persistent finish that keeps echoing the core elements. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Drink now through 2030.
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Decanter
The juicy black cherry nose is wrapped in smoke, and that same generous, luscious ripeness fills the mouth and rolls its heady richness around your senses. Alcoholic heat tingles at the edges, while cinnamon notions glisten. This is bold, rich, layered and muscular. Worth waiting for. Cabernet Sauvignon with splashes of Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2014 Proprietary Red Wine is a blend of 87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Cabernet Franc and the rest Petit Verdot, Merlot and Malbec, again, showing slightly less depth than its two surrounding siblings, but beautiful pure fruit, silky, velvety tannins, a layered mouthfeel and deep blackcurrant and black cherry fruit intermixed with cedar wood, fruitcake and smoky oak. This is a terrific wine as well and it will be the fastest out of the gate in terms of evolution – drinking beautifully for the next 15+ years.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
The Pahlmeyer Proprietor Red—a blend of mostly Cabernet Sauvignon, with bits of Merlot, Malbec, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot—is bold and ripe. The wine's full concentration makes a wine that would stand up nicely with a very old cheddar. (Tasted: October 30, 2017, San Francisco, CA)
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.