Winemaker Notes
Blend: 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Merlot, 4% Cabernet France, 3% Malbec, 3% Petit Verdot
Professional Ratings
-
Decanter
Winemaker Katie Vogt knocked it out of the park with the 2022 Pahlmeyer Red Wine. It stands right alongside the 2021—an incredible achievement given the heat challenges of the vintage. Yet, this wine delivers depth, structure, and power. Most of the fruit comes from the Upper Range Vineyard above Rutherford, farmed by the Bettinelli family. Katie Vogt described the incoming grapes as looking "like caviar"—perfect. On the nose, fragrant wild sage and thyme intertwine with rose petals, black cherry, and blackberry, all carrying onto the full-bodied palate. Hefty tannins are velvety, framed by a vibrant core of juicy blood orange acidity. The finish is long, layered with toasted baking spices and scorched herb character. This Cabernet and Merlot blend includes Malbec, Petit Verdot, and Cabernet Franc. Aged for 15 months in 90% new French oak, using heavy-toast Taransaud and Darnajou barrels. Hillside sources include Waters, Stagecoach, and Vangone.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Pahlmeyer's 2022 Proprietary Red is only 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, with the balance comprising 4% each Cabernet Franc and Merlot and 3% each Malbec and Petit Verdot. It spent 18 months in 90% new French oak. According to winemaker Katie Vogt, this vintage leans heavily into the Cabernet Sauvignon from Upper Range, as they have misters on every vine. There's a hint of dried sage on the nose, nicely highlighting notes of cassis, black cherries, vanilla and black olives. In the mouth, this richly concentrated but rather open-knit wine is full-bodied, broad, even expansive, then tightens up a bit and lingers on the mouthwatering finish.
-
Wine Enthusiast
Abundant flavor meets structural balance to deliver Pahlmeyer's mountain-based Merlot blend. Black currants, mixed cherries and plums, resinous herbs, cocoa, and graphite combine nose through finish for an impressive and satisfying wine.
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.