Winemaker Notes
This soft, easy-drinking Cabernet is a good introduction to the vintage, and while it will improve over the course of three to eight years, it is not a wine intended for long-term cellaring.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2016 Claret is a blend of 52% Cabernet Sauvignon, 26% Merlot, 12% Malbec, 8% Syrah and 2% Petit Verdot. Medium to deep ruby-purple, it offers aromas of bay leaf, sage brush, cardamom, anise and clove with mint chocolate, underbrush, blackberries and blackcurrants. It's medium to full-bodied, rounded and easygoing in the mouth, with gentle, grainy tannins and great freshness to lift the finish. It would be all too easy to glug a bottle of this “luncheon Cab,” as David Ramey calls it. 4,927 cases produced.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2016 Claret is a pretty, elegant blend of 52% Cabernet Sauvignon, 26% Merlot, 12% Malbec, and the rest Syrah and Petit Verdot. This medium-bodied, silky, nicely textured red offers notes of ripe black cherries, currants, and assorted tobacco and herbal notes, and it’s textured and balanced. Drink it over the coming decade.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2016 Ramey Claret is refined and stylish. TASTING NOTES: This wine exhibits fresh and lively nuances. Pair its perky red fruit aromas and flavors with lighter meat dishes. (Tasted: May 13, 2019, San Francisco, CA)
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.