Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The other-worldly 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon Peterson Family Vineyard is ... to die for! Given its quality, the price is surprisingly realistic, considering how many California North Coast mediocrities fetch three digit prices. This opaque purple-colored Cabernet exhibits wonderfully sweet aromas of melted licorice intermixed with cedar wood, black currant liqueur, chocolate, and spice box. This full-throttle, unctuously-textured, dense, broad, pure, impeccably balanced, expansive 2001 is mouth-coating in its richness and intensity. It can be drunk with great pleasure, or cellared for 15-20 years. Wow!
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Wine Spectator
A fabulous young wine. Ultrarich and harmonious, with ripe, supple tannins wrapped around a delicious core of currant, blackberry, vanilla, espresso bean and mocha, gliding to a long, sensual finish with lots of rich, intricate flavors.
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.