Winemaker Notes
Fruit forward and voluptuous, this wine sings with notes of blackberry, subtle spice, and vanilla. The mouth-feel is seamless, elegant and bold. Refined chalky textured tannins give way to a lengthy finish. This spectacular wine is poised for aging.
Professional Ratings
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A barrel selection that stays in oak for an extra year, the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon 3D Dr. Crane Vineyard is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, a mix of several clones. Marked by subtle cedar and vanilla shadings and wonderfully deep cassis notes, it's full-bodied, rich and supported by supple tannins and an elegant, lingering finish. Lovely stuff!
-
Wine Enthusiast
Rich, broad and immediately appealing, this full-bodied wine is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, aged in all-new French oak barrels. The wine offers generous, ripe dark plums and berries on melted tannins that give some structure without too much bite. Grown in a historic vineyard farmed by the Salvestrins for 91 years.
-
Wine Spectator
Broad and polished, with an inviting core of cassis and blackberry puree flavors, framed by singed alder and infused with black tea, warm earth and sweet tobacco. Dense and long on the finish, with a sense of inner purity that bodes well for cellaring.
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.
St. Helena is in the heart of the Napa Valley, nestled between Calistoga to the north and Rutherford on its southern border. On its western side, the Mayacamas Mountains guard it from the cooling effects of the Pacific Ocean; to its east stand the Vaca Mountains. In conjunction, these mountain ranges serve to lock in summer daytime heat. But in the evening, cool air from the San Pablo Bay funnels up through the valley, creating very chilly nights. It isn’t uncommon for temperatures to drop 50 degrees, a shift that promotes a balance of sugar ripeness and acidity in wine grapes.
St. Helena contains a plethora of different soil types in a small area, which have been enhanced over centuries by rain runoff from both mountain ranges. Its vineyards cover a variety of terrain, spreading across the bucolic valley floor and its benchlands.
These ideal topographic and climatic growing conditions easily caught the attention of early winemaking pioneers. In fact, St. Helena is the birthplace of Napa Valley’s commercial wine industry. Dr. Crane founded his cellar in 1859, David Fulton in 1860 and Charles Krug in 1861.
Today there are no less than 400 separate vineyards planted within the 12,000 acres that make up the St. Helena appellation.
Revered most for its red wines based on Bordeaux varieties, namely Cabernet Sauvignon, the St. Helena appellation is also a source of superior Syrah, Zinfandel and Sauvignon blanc.