Winemaker Notes
With its captivating complexity and stellar balance, this Cabernet is the star of any meal it accompanies. A substantial yet simple dish such as a dry-aged New York strip steak with parmesan potato gratin and sautéed long beans would pair fabulously with this wine. For a memorable cheese course, pair it with extra aged Beemster, a nutty cow’s milk cheese from Holland.
Blend: 93% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Malbec, 3% Merlot
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The other 2013 offered in my tasting was the 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon Fortis, which is a blend of 93% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Malbec and 3% Merlot. An absolutely spectacular offering from Pine Ridge and one of their all-time great Cabernet Sauvignons, this prodigious blend has an inky purple color to the rim and a gorgeous nose of charcoal, asphalt, graphite, blueberry, blackberry and cassis, while not a trace of oak seems to make it through. The wine is large-scaled, massively extracted, but not without balance. It offers layers and layers of fruit, superb richness, and a long, moderately tannic finish. This is a wine for patient connoisseurs that needs to be put away for a good 4-5 years, but it could have 30-35 years of upside potential in a cold cellar.
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James Suckling
This is generous and dense but tight. Shows ripe tannins and polish. Full-bodied, solid and tight. Blackcurrants and blackberries. So much blue fruit. Dense and tight. Starting to come around now.
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Wine Enthusiast
A top-of-the-line effort and a departure from the producer's single-vineyard, 100% varietal bottlings, this blends 4% Malbec and 3% Merlot. Spicy with clove scents, it showcases deep cassis and cranberry flavors, with a lift of red fruit and supportive acidity.
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Wine Spectator
A very stylish effort that combines richness and density with finesse and refinement. As a youngster, this is appropriately powerful and deeply flavored by licorice, currant, blackberry and loamy, gravelly earth. Ends with a long, persistent aftertaste, and promises to develop. Drink now through 2028.
Founded in 1978, Pine Ridge Vineyards sits in the heart of the Stags Leap District of Napa Valley, tucked beneath of ridge of pines that speak to the dramatic geologic origins of our home and unique soils. For over 40 years the winery has become a pioneer farming and vinifying Bordeaux grapes with a focus on Cabernet Sauvignon. Today, Pine Ridge Vineyards farms a collection of 160 acres of Napa Green sustainably certified estate vineyards across Oakville, Rutherford, Howell Mountain and Carneros, including 47 acres in the Stags Leap District.
The winery’s Chenin Blanc + Viognier bottling started out as an experimental blend over twenty-five years ago and is now one of the most beloved and highly acclaimed white wines available. Original and unique, this fresh white wine blend is crafted to be fresh, fruity and easy to pair and enjoy. The wine has also inspired a Pine Ridge Sparkling wine also made with Chenin Blanc and a splash of Viognier.
One of the most prestigious wines of the world capable of great power and grace, Napa Valley Cabernet is a leading force in the world of fine, famous, collectible red wine. Today the Napa Valley and Cabernet Sauvignon are so intrinsically linked that it is difficult to discuss one without the other. But it wasn’t until the 1970s that this marriage came to light; sudden international recognition rained upon Napa with the victory of the Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars 1973 Cabernet Sauvignon in the 1976 Judgement of Paris.
Cabernet Sauvignon undoubtedly dominates Napa Valley today, covering half of the land under vine, commanding the highest prices per ton and earning the most critical acclaim. Cabernet Sauvignon’s structure, acidity, capacity to thrive in multiple environs and ability to express nuances of vintage make it perfect for Napa Valley where incredible soil and geographical diversity are found and the climate is perfect for grape growing. Within the Napa Valley lie many smaller sub-AVAs that express specific characteristics based on situation, slope and soil—as a perfect example, Rutherford’s famous dust or Stags Leap District's tart cherry flavors.