Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The top wine here is the classic 2003 Claret, a gorgeously proportioned, opaque purple-colored effort boasting a big, sweet nose of smoky meats, creme de cassis, coffee, and dark plums. Dense and opulent, with superb concentration, full body, high glycerin, decent acidity, and ripe tannin, this a superb mouthful of wine that can be approached now or cellared for 12-15 years.
-
Wine Enthusiast
Nearly 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, this firm young wine showcases Napa Cab at its best. It’s powerful in cassis and mocha flavors, with complex spice notes. The considerable new oak fits in fine given the wine’s size. Extraordinarily smooth and lush, it’s beautiful now, but has the structure to age for a decade. What a beauty.
-
Wine Spectator
Remarkably rich, supple and harmonious, with a generous array of spicy currant, blackberry, exotic spice and hazelnut with hints of mocha and chocolate. For all its richness and complexity, this is a delightful wine to drink both now and through the next decade.
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.