Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Tasting Panel
Chalky tannins artfully form a violet dust on the palate and with a smack and a snap, blackberry mocha appears. But it dissipates, melts, leaving traces of sweet fruit on the tongue that are akin to a plum brandy finish.
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Jeb Dunnuck
From a cooler, challenging vintage, the 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve is nevertheless beautiful stuff, offering a Bordeaux-like perfume of red and black currants, cedarwood, sappy flowers, truffle, and tobacco. Still a youthful ruby/plum hue, with medium to full body and silky, integrated tannins, it's drinking at point today yet easily has another 10-15 years of prime drinking.
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Wine Enthusiast
This is the winery's first vintage of prominently labeling its reserve-tier Cab under the To Kalon name, a nod to the vineyard's importance in the blend, which is almost all Cabernet Sauvignon, with handfuls of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Soft and structured, it's a subtly powerful wine, offering cassis, cranberry, dried herb and savory touch of black tea.
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Wine Spectator
A wine of finesse and polish, this displays striking grace and elegance, with firm, refined red berry, currant, black cherry and subtle vanilla oak notes. Drink now through 2025.
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.