Winemaker Notes
Pair this wine alongside bone-in ribeye, grilled veal chops, and New York strip steak.
Blend: 68% Merlot, 24% Cabernet Franc, 8% Cabernet Sauvignon
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2018 Right Bank Proprietary Red Reserve checks in as mostly Merlot yet includes 24% Cabernet Franc and 8% Cabernet Sauvignon. Raised in 40% new barrels, it has a perfumed, exotic nose of uber-ripe black cherries, blueberries, ginger, and baking spices. Full-bodied on the palate, it’s a blockbuster styled effort with sweet tannins and a great finish. It pushes on the ripeness scale (although the alcohol and pH are rock-solid), but it stays in check and is joy to drink. Drink bottles over the coming decade.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A blend of 68% Merlot, 24% Cabernet Franc and 8% Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2018 Proprietary Red Reserve is more of a Right Bank style, with scents of lavender, black cherries, cassis and cedar. It's full-bodied and expansive in the mouth but not that rich, and it shows a bit of warmth on the finish.
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.