Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon is a blend of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Petit Verdot, 4% Merlot and the rest Malbec that was brought up in 85% new French oak. This black-fruited beauty has tons of blackcurrants, scorched earth, graphite, and hints of violets. It opens up beautifully with time in the glass, has beautiful purity and elegance, silky tannins, and a great finish. Elegant and seamless as well as concentrated, this attractive Cabernet will keep for 20-25 years.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon is made up of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Petit Verdot, 5% Merlot and 3% Malbec. It has a deep garnet-purple color and intense redcurrants, black raspberries, cassis, warm plums and kirsch with hints of violets, tobacco, forest floor and wild sage. The palate is full, firm, grainy and concentrated, finishing long and perfumed.
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Wine Spectator
The base 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon is a beauty that has both richness and elegance. Currants, blueberries, crushed violets, and a touch of minerality all emerge from this full-bodied, voluptuous, weight less 2016 that has the purity, freshness of the vintage front and center.
Barrel Sample: 93-95
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.