Winemaker Notes
Blend: 88% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Merlot, 3% Petit Verdot
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
A refined and memorable nose shows layers of blackcurrant, damson and black cherry in a powerful and forward style. A massive wine, but it is all in harmony and well integrated. Delightful.
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James Suckling
A polished and pretty 2013 cabernet that delivers blueberry, slate and blackberry aromas and flavors. Full-bodied yet reserved and tight. Drink or hold.
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Wine & Spirits
Jon Emmerich blends this wine from three estate vineyards—Stag’s Leap, Mt. George and Oakville Station. It’s a deeply mineral-inflected wine, with chipped-stone tannins that are neither pushed nor heavily extracted, but gracious in their taut structure. The purple fruit may be concentrated, but it also has a pretty side, hinting at redder tones and green-olive salinity underneath. Probably best enjoyed over the next five years, this is built for roast lamb.
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.