Winemaker Notes
This fruit-forward blend showcases dark berries, cherries, baking chocolate and baking spices. Medium tannins wash over the palate with plum and red cherry, along with a lift of blackberry and earthiness.
Blend: 45% Merlot, 22% Petite Sirah, 19% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Malbec
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Rich, jammy nose saturated with sweet blackberries, chocolate, prunes and heavily roasted spices and tar. Flavorful and full-bodied with plush, ripe black fruit and fine-grained tannins. Long and rich finish, even though it is a little heavy.
Undoubtedly proving its merit over and over, Napa Valley is a now a leading force in the world of prestigious red wine regions. Though Cabernet Sauvignon dominates Napa Valley, other red varieties certainly thrive here. Important but often overlooked include Merlot and other Bordeaux varieties well-regarded on their own as well as for their blending capacities. Very old vine Zinfandel represents an important historical stronghold for the region and Pinot noir is produced in the cooler southern parts, close to the San Pablo Bay.
Perfectly situated running north to south, the valley acts as a corridor, pulling cool, moist air up from the San Pablo Bay in the evenings during the hot days of the growing season, which leads to even and slow grape ripening. Furthermore the valley claims over 100 soil variations including layers of volcanic, gravel, sand and silt—a combination excellent for world-class red wine production.