Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
A refined and gorgeous wine sporting fragrant blackberry, black plum, currant leaf, and sagebrush, with cigar box and cedarwood spices. It shows natural elegance and restraint in its medium-bodied creamy textures. A plethora of red cherry, red currant, and red plum fruits are laced with exotic spices, calling to mind cardamom, coriander, and clove. Long strands of velvety tannins are balanced by fresh and inviting blood-orange acidity. The wine builds with presence and personality, culminating with a long cast-iron mineral finish. The use of more large format barrels has allowed for better integration of oak and fruit in these stylish Rudd wines.
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James Suckling
The blackcurrant, iodine and ink aromas are clear and clean. Medium-bodied with very firm and fine tannins and a cooling sense to it. Extremely finely crafted and polished. Very classy and refined. Very pure fruit. Fantastic freshness. Pure cabernet sauvignon. Almost drinkable now. 416 cases made. Better in three or four years.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The blackcurrant, iodine and ink aromas are clear and clean. Medium-bodied with very firm and fine tannins and a cooling sense to it. Extremely finely crafted and polished. Very classy and refined. Very pure fruit. Fantastic freshness. Pure cabernet sauvignon.
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Wine Spectator
A textbook Oakville showing, with lush blackberry and boysenberry reduction notes infused liberally with sweet tobacco, menthol, anise and loam details. There's juicy energy buried deeply on the finish. While toasty, this offers the energy and fruit for balance. Best from 2025 through 2038.
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.