Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
-
Jeb Dunnuck
Looking first at the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville, it’s a smoking introduction to the estate and reveals a deep purple hue as well as tons of mulled blackcurrant fruits interwoven with cedary herbs, dark chocolate, and hints of tobacco. This is a beautiful, full-bodied effort that has sweet tannins, a rounded, sexy mouthfeel, and a great finish. It’s a winner to drink anytime over the coming 10-15 years. It competes with wines three times the price.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2016 Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon sports a deep garnet-purple color and leaps from the glass with exuberant blueberry pie, Black Forest cake and stewed plums notes plus hints of forest floor, menthol and potpourri. Medium to full-bodied, the palate reveals a harmonious fruit preserves and velvety texture interplay with background freshness and a fragrant finish.
-
Wine Enthusiast
Big oak and leathery tannins are hugely present in this thick, richly concentrated wine, that offers fans of a more robust style the jammy blueberry, blackberry and graham cracker layers worth sinking one's teeth into.
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.