Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Connoisseurs' Guide
This impressive, generously filled and very solid young wine is at once both powerful and remarkably well-balanced and delivers loads of optimally ripened, curranty fruit juxtaposed with just the right measure of complementary oak. It is full on the palate and comes complete with lots of Cabernet tannins, but even as astringency crowds in at the finish, its confident fruit refuses to quit. It is not, nor will ever be the picture of elegance, but its stunning depth and keen varietal precision raise great expectations for a most handsome maturity some eight to ten years hence.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The soft 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon Black Label exhibits an opaque purple color. It appears to be fully mature, but with its concentration and richness, it is capable of lasting another 10-15 years. Lots of cassis, incense, licorice, toasty oak and spring flower characteristics are abundantly displayed in this lovely, rich, pure, opulent wine.
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.
Reaching up California's coastline and into its valleys north of San Francisco, the North Coast AVA includes six counties: Marin, Solano, Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino and Lake. While Napa and Sonoma enjoy most of the glory, the rest produce no shortage of quality wines in an intriguing and diverse range of styles.
Climbing up the state's rugged coastline, the chilly Marin County, just above the City and most of Sonoma County, as well as Mendocino County on the far north end of the North Coast successfully grow cool-climate varieties like Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and in some spots, Riesling. Inland Lake County, on the other hand, is considerably warmer, and Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel and Sauvignon Blanc produce some impressive wines with affordable price tags.