Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon Au Paradis contains 21% Cabernet Franc and 2% Merlot. It has singular, inviting aromas of blueberry, black cherry, juniper, thyme, violet and dark chocolate. The full-bodied palate is just as expressive, offering power and concentration without sacrificing elegance. Its graphite and floral-laced flavors are structured by luxuriously powdery tannins and bright acidity, and it has a very long, layered finish.
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Decanter
Highly scented and perfumed blue fruit on the nose, smells fresh and fragrant. Tobacco, dried herbs, blackcurrants, plums and black cherries. Super floral but also with some savoury earth tones as well as tobacco and cedar. Fleshy and almost chewy, mouth filling but delicately, the tannins have a soft grip. I like the cooling blue fruit and graphite aspect with liquorice, aniseed and clove. Wide and ample in the mouth but lifted and not heavy, elegant and polished. Complex flavour and really nice layering, there’s no shortage of flavour and there’s gorgeous tannins but the alcohol heat and spice poke through at the end and just create a bit of a narrowing of enjoyment. Aging 18 months, 60% new oak. Harvested over eight days from September 10-17.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Coming from Oakville in Napa, the 2022 Au Paradis is composed of 77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 21% Cabernet Franc, and a splash of Merlot. It’s ripe with notes of preserved plum, dark stones, olive, mocha, and dark earth. The palate is ripe and full, and its tannins feel a bit more approachable and ripe, with more hints of mocha coming through on the finish. It’s full and decadent, and they did what they could to retain the freshness in this very challenging vintage. It’s long on the palate, and while it might not have the same longevity and tension as the 2021, it’s a strong wine to drink over the coming 10-12 years.
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Wine Spectator
Though flirting with jammy, this offers enticing loganberry, boysenberry and açaí fruit flavors that deliver juicy energy, while licorice snap and fruitcake details ripple through the finish. A showy style, but this pushes through on the finish, while most ’22s don't.
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.
Home to some of the most sought-after Cabernet Sauvignon in America, Napa Valley’s Oakville district stretches across the center of Napa's valley floor and foothills between the Vaca and Mayacamas Mountains. This AVA is home to the legendary To Kalon Vineyard and Martha's Vineyard, as well as many powerhouse wineries including Screaming Eagle, Silver Oak, Robert Mondavi, Opus One, Far Niente and Groth.
The climate is generally warm and agreeable, resulting in year after year of favorable vintages. Summer days see a gentle tug of war between warmer inland air and the cool air coming in from the San Pablo Bay, creating an ideal environment to grow red varieties. Oakville's diverse soils, namely ancient sea bedrock, clay and gravel, are well-drained, and perfect for high-caliber viticulture.
Cabernet here is often bottled varietally but is also popular in Bordeaux Blends. Oakville wines are known for their silky, sensual textures, structured tannins, dark and brooding fruit and lovely aromatics. These age-worthy and prestigious wines are favored by collectors throughout the world.