Winemaker Notes
Exhibiting a deep garnet hue, this wine captivates with a lush bouquet of crushed blackberry, wild sage, fresh cigar box, and a delicate tobacco leaf note. The palate is remarkably balanced with elegant, supple tannins and fresh acidity that wraps around red currant, dark chocolate, and boysenberry alongside subtle notes of dried herbs and vanilla. The seamlessly layered mid-palate provides tension through the long, complex finish.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
So fresh, balanced, flavorful and vivid, generous in red and black cherry, black currant, spearmint and mineral flavors on a full body. The texture is moderately tannic and rather mild for a cabernet, showing the drinkability and ease of Coombsville wines. Drink now or hold.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The appellation 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon Coombsville is smoking good, and it's up there with some of the top values in the vintage. Based on 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Petit Verdot, and the rest Cabernet Franc and Merlot, it shows a deep purple hue as well as rocking aromatics of blue fruits, scorched earth, graphite, and crushed stone. It's medium to full-bodied and has a pure, layered, graceful mouthfeel, plenty of tannins, and a great finish. It competes with wines at 2-3 times its price and should have an easy two decades of overall longevity. Drink 2025-2045.
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Wine Enthusiast
Deep and focused aromas of black plums, blackberries, graphite, and flowers blossom on the nose of this complex and intense Cabernet. The palate provides loads of ageworthy tannin and balanced acidity, with flavors of black cherry, salted plum, dark chocolate, and cracked pepper across the finish. Give this a little time in the cellar and enjoy with a coffee-encrusted ribeye.
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Wine Spectator
This captures the essence of the vintage wonderfully, with simmering succulence from start to finish that supports alluring açaí, boysenberry and blackberry puree flavors. A cast iron underpinning, along with sparkles of anise, apple wood and ink in the background, combine for impressive range and length. Best from 2027 through 2040.
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Decanter
Ultra-ripe on the nose, offering mulberry and kirsch notes layered with heady violets, scorched earth and toasty oak spice. On the palate, it builds with robust tannins, framed by bright, juicy, mouth-watering acidity. The finish carries sagebrush, mint and bay laurel freshness, lending lift and definition to its ripe, concentrated core.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Blended from lots that didn't make the cut for inclusion in the single-vineyard wine, the 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon Coombsville is the largest-production Paul Hobbs Cabernet Sauvignon this vintage, totaling 8,730 cases. An assemblage of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Petit Verdot, 5% Cabernet Franc and 3% Merlot, it boasts a characteristic crushed stone-volcanic soils scent, a hint of violets and a mix of black cherries, cassis and blueberries. It's medium- to full-bodied and softly dusty in feel, with lovely balance and weight. Despite a price differential, I don't see this bottling as being lesser to Cristina's Signature at all.
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Vinous
The 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon (Coombsville) is stellar. Bold, ample and savory, the 2023 has so much to offer, starting with its picture-perfect rendering of the appellation. Dark red/black fruit, mocha, new leather, espresso and lavender fill out the layers. There's terrific breadth and palate presence here.
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.
Situated in the southeastern corner of Napa Valley in the Vaca range, the vineyards of the Coombsville AVA enjoy a long growing season mitigated by cool, San Pablo Bay fog.