Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
-
Vinous
The 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate is a sumptuous, heady wine. It possesses tremendous richness and pure power from the outset. Inky dark fruit, mocha, espresso, leather and licorice infuse the 2019 with notable character. This deep, potent Cabernet delivers the goods, big time.
-
Jeb Dunnuck
The 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate showed brilliantly, with a ripe, sexy, full-bodied profile that’s just about impossible to resist. Deep purple-hued with lots of red, black, and blue fruits, it shows exotic notes of iron, orange blossom, and chocolate with time in the glass. These all carry to a perfectly balanced, layered 2019 with velvety tannins and the richer style of the vintage front and center. A blend of 89% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Petit Verdot, and the rest Malbec, it’s going to evolve for two decades.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate is a blend of 89% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Petit Verdot and 5% Malbec. Deep garnet-purple in color, it charges out of the gate with bold blackcurrant and blackberry preserves scents, plus hints of tilled soil, truffles and unsmoked cigars. The full-on opulent, rich, velvety palate is decadently laden with black fruit preserves and earthy accents, finishing long with a lively lift.
-
Wine Spectator
Ripe and focused, with an alluring mix of sassafras and chaparral hints dotting a core of steeped black currant and blackberry fruit. Shows a nice loamy tug through the finish, too. Drink now through 2034. 7,670 cases made.
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.