Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The top wine, the Jericho Canyon Proprietary Red, emerges from a vineyard northeast of Calistoga. Revealing exceptional intensity, along with a flamboyant, open-knit personality, the 2002 Jericho Canyon Proprietary Red (two-thirds Cabernet Sauvignon and one-third Merlot, and a tiny dollop of Cabernet Franc) exhibits a deep purple color along with sweet fruit, and juicy, smoky bacon fat notes intermixed with creosote, creme de cassis, scorched earth, and toasty oak.
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Wine Spectator
This wine starts with a dense, rich core of fleshy, mocha-laced currant, fresh earth, plum and blackberry fruit, firming up with rich, chewy tannins, but the flavors push through on the finish, revealing added facets of depth and concentration. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc.
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.