Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This is really fantastic on the nose with blackberry, blueberry, lavender, and violets. Even sage. Full body plus extremely integrated tannins that are polished and refined. The balance and harmony is phenomenal. Goes on for minutes. Beautiful now but will satisfy for decades.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Still showing terrifically youthful purple color, the 2013 Proprietary Red Wine delivers waves of cedar, vanilla and black cherries. It's richer and more concentrated than typical for the estate yet still silky in feel, with a medium to full-bodied palate and ample length on the mocha-tinged finish. Best After 2016
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Decanter
An excellent, powerful and concentrated wine with smoked tar notes, ripe fig and gourmet blackberry puree. Shares similarities with the 2017, this is a big and ripe wine that is extremely easy to recommend. Impressively nuanced as it spends time in the glass, showing a curl of rose petal on the finish. 85% new oak. Carménère and Petit Verdot complete the blend. Drinking Window 2020 - 2038
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.