Winemaker Notes
Critical Acclaim
All VintagesCellar Selection
A juicy 2016 with plenty of chocolate, berry and hazelnut aromas and flavors. Full body and round, silky tannins and a delicious aftertaste. Give it a year or two. Try after 2022.
Rating: 91+
Round Pond Estate, owned and operated today by the second generation of the MacDonnell family, is a highly sought-after and respected ultra-premium Cabernet Sauvignon producer, specializing in the creation of pure, expressive wines, artisan foods and unforgettable experiences—all from the heart of Napa Valley.
Their family has been growing some of the finest wine grapes in Napa Valley’s acclaimed Rutherford region for over 40 years. Home to world-renowned American vineyards and some of the most coveted Cabernet Sauvignon fruit, Rutherford is widely recognized as one of the great viticultural regions of the world.
Over the years, they have cultivated a nurturing and sustainable relationship with their estate vineyard making their Cabernet Sauvignon prized by numerous esteemed wineries. To make their own highly-rated, handcrafted wines, they have combined two generations of wine growing experience with the same artisan attention to detail they have learned are essential parts of crafting world-class olive oils and red wine vinegars. Their goal is simple – by remaining true to time-honored traditions they strive to bring you the best the Napa Valley has to offer.
They invite you to explore and savor these exceptional, limited-production wines from Round Pond Estate.
The Rutherford sub-region of Napa Valley centers on the town of Rutherford and covers some of Napa Valley’s finest vineyard real estate, spanning from the Mayacamas in the west, to the Vaca Mountains on the other side of the valley.
Inside of the Rutherford AVA, bordering the Mayacamas, is a stretch of uplands called the Rutherford Bench. (These bench lands technically run the length of Oakville as well). Mountain runoff creates deep, well-drained, alluvial soils on the bench, giving vine roots plenty of reason to permeate deep into the ground. The result is wine with great structure and complexity.
Rutherford Cabernet Sauvingons and Bordeaux Blends garner substantial attention for their enticing fragrances of dusty earth and dried herbs, broad and juicy mid-palates and lush and fine-grained tannins. The sub-appellation claims some of the valley’s most prized vineyards today, namely Caymus, Rubicon and Beckstoffer Georges III.
It is also home to Napa’s most influential and historic personalities. Thomas Rutherford, responsible for the appellation's name, made serious investments here in grape growing and wine production between the years of 1850 to 1880. Gustave Niebaum purchased a large swath of land and completed his winery in 1887, calling it “Inglenook.” Today this remains the oldest bonded winery in California. Georges Latour founded Beaulieu Vineyard in 1900, making it the oldest continuous winery in the state. Latour also hired the famous enologist, André Tchelistcheff, a man credited for single-handedly defining the modern Napa winemaking style.
A noble variety bestowed with both power and concentration, Cabernet Sauvignon enjoys success all over the globe, its best examples showing potential to age beautifully for decades. Cabernet Sauvignon flourishes in Bordeaux's Medoc where it is often blended with Merlot and smaller amounts of some combination of Cabernet Franc, Malbecand Petit Verdot. In the Napa Valley, ‘Cab’ is responsible for some of the world’s most prestigious, age-worthy and sought-after “cult” wines. Somm Secret—DNA profiling in 1997 revealed that Cabernet Sauvignon was born from a spontaneous crossing of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc in 17th century southwest France.