Winemaker Notes
The second vintage of this blend, it represents our version of a "winemaker's wine." Having spent so much time working in Bordeaux and visiting Burgundy, the Loire and the Rhone, I'm deeply steeped in French winemaking tradition, including their orientation toward the growing site or region. Thus, all our wines are either vineyard designates or regional blends. While Annum is an appellation wine, it is the one blend we make each year that allows us to select from a range of vineyards to make the best blend possible that vintage. This second release is 98% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Petit Verdot. Vineyards chosen include the J. Davies Vineyard on the Schramsberg Estate (56%), the Larkmead Vineyard (36%), and Somerston Vineyard (8%).
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Annum, containing 2% Petit Verdot, is deep ruby-black in color and offers aromas of cast iron pan, graphite, toasted cumin, star anise and old leather with dried red and black cherries, cedar, cigars, bitter chocolate and loads of red fruit and herb sparks. It's medium-bodied, silky and lush with a lovely interplay of tertiary and fruit flavors. It has a frame of cocoa powder-like tannins, retaining great freshness and finishing very, very long and layered. This is just stunning to drink right now! 865 cases produced.
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Wine Spectator
A bold, rich, expansive style, offering tiers of opulent blackberry and wild berry flavors, with touches of black and red licorice and a notable rustic hot brick wall earthiness, all of it dense, focused, complex and concentrated. Ends with a long, persistent finish. Drink now through 2020. 1,700 cases made.
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.