Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The flagship 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Padron is 91% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Merlot and the rest Cabernet Franc, all brought up in new French oak. This deep purple-colored effort offers a beautiful bouquet of spiced plums, incense, and crème de cassis. Thick, rich and opulent, with beautiful density and depth, it stays fresh and lively and has ripe tannin. It’s a terrific Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon to drink over the coming 15-20 years.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The blend of 91% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Merlot and 4% Cabernet Franc, the 2014 Proprietary Red Padrone shows serious levels of extract, nice blueberry and blackberry fruit, a touch of licorice and vanillin. It is not as seriously endowed as the 2013, but more open-knit and probably most consumers will enjoy it more over the next 15 or so years than the more tightly knit and more dense 2013. In any case, it is a beauty.
Rating: 93+
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.