Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve is already drinking remarkably well with abundant notes of creme de cassis, incense, licorice and spring flowers. Stunningly rich, full-bodied and built like a skyscraper, this wine is intense and full with velvety tannins and an overall impression of a voluptuous, opulent Cabernet Sauvignon to drink now and over the next 10-15 years.
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Wine Enthusiast
This is a great Cabernet, blended with a drop of Petit Verdot. It shows the intensity of mountain fruit, with incredibly concentrated black currant and cassis flavors, with superb tannins. Few Cabernets have shown this degree of ageability.
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.