Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville Hillside is a tour de force! Coming from a site just below Dalla Valle and blended with 5% Cabernet Franc, its deep purple color is followed by a deep, sensational bouquet of blackcurrants, black cherries, scorched earth, flowers, and loads of rock minerality. Possessing full-bodied richness, impeccable balance, and plenty of depth, it’s the purity, nuance, and elegance that set this beauty apart. With building tannin, integrated acidity and big finish, give it 4-5 years of bottle age and it’s going to cruise in the cellar for 20+ years.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Drive the Oakville Cross Road to the Silverado Trail, then look directly forward and up and you see Tierra Roja, a small four-acre jewel of a hillside vineyard. The vineyard is dotted with big rocks, and the soil is roja (very red). The 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville Hillside comes from the upper steep terraces of the vineyard, directly below Dalla Valle. It includes 5% Cabernet Franc from another of Oakville’s vineyards. Fermented in a single closed-top tank, this was allowed to stay on its skins for a little over 30 days. The wine continued to pick up sweetness and depth without adding on any drying tannin, so extended maceration was used. After fermentation this was lightly pressed to new Taransaud and Darnajou barrels. Deep garnet-purple colored, it gives profound crème de cassis, blueberry pie, mulberries, plums, chocolate box, menthol and licorice aromas with underbrush hints. The full-bodied palate is firm, vibrant and earthy with herbal accents, finishing long and earthy. 300 cases produced.
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.