Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Wow, what a fantastic wine. Bursts open with scads of fine French oak, cedar and char, with a rôti quality riding high over the cherries, cassis and white chocolate. So good, it's scary. Rich, long, powerful in cassis and cherry fruit, yet wonderfully firm and tannic, this wine is fabulous now, but will easily improve through 2015 and possible beyond.
Cellar Selection -
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville Estate is a 2,550-case blend of 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Cabernet Franc, and the rest Merlot, Petit Verdot, and Malbec. It is aged 20 months in new French oak prior to bottling. This super effort comes across as a Napa version of top-flight Pauillac. Dense ruby/purple to the rim with a gorgeous nose of smoke, cedar, burning wood fires, and creme de cassis, this powerful, intensely rich, complex Cabernet reveals notions of chocolate, charcoal, and blackberry fruit.
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Wine Spectator
Dark, dense and concentrated. A rich, powerful wine that packs in layers of complex flavors, yet maintains a sense of grace and finesse. Core flavors are built around ripe, lively plum, currant, herb and smoky-toasty oak, but at the end what impresses you most is the elegance and polish.
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.
Home to some of the most sought-after Cabernet Sauvignon in America, Napa Valley’s Oakville district stretches across the center of Napa's valley floor and foothills between the Vaca and Mayacamas Mountains. This AVA is home to the legendary To Kalon Vineyard and Martha's Vineyard, as well as many powerhouse wineries including Screaming Eagle, Silver Oak, Robert Mondavi, Opus One, Far Niente and Groth.
The climate is generally warm and agreeable, resulting in year after year of favorable vintages. Summer days see a gentle tug of war between warmer inland air and the cool air coming in from the San Pablo Bay, creating an ideal environment to grow red varieties. Oakville's diverse soils, namely ancient sea bedrock, clay and gravel, are well-drained, and perfect for high-caliber viticulture.
Cabernet here is often bottled varietally but is also popular in Bordeaux Blends. Oakville wines are known for their silky, sensual textures, structured tannins, dark and brooding fruit and lovely aromatics. These age-worthy and prestigious wines are favored by collectors throughout the world.