Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Crushed dark fruit with licorice and black olives on the nose. Full-bodied and very lush yet reserved and melted in the palate. Fine tannins. Spreads out across the palate in a subtle way. Drink after 2020.
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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). This wine comes from the upper steep terraces of the vineyard, directly below Dalla Valle. Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville Hillside features red, black and blue fruits with floral and earthy nuances plus pencil shavings and a meaty/savory undercurrent. The palate is full-bodied, firm, grainy and lively with loads of earth and mineral layers.
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Decanter
The Cabernet Sauvignon for this 2016 came from the steep, warmer upper block of the 1.5ha Tierra Roja vineyard, with its characteristic large rocks and ‘very red’ soil, known for producing perfumed and complex wines. It was blended with 5% Cabernet Franc from another top Oakville vineyard, and aged in French oak barrels from Darnajou. Drinking Window 2020 - 2045
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Jeb Dunnuck
From the upper terraces of the Tierra Roja Vineyard, which always ripens earlier, the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville Hillside also includes 5% Cabernet Franc sourced from the To Kalon Vineyard in Oakville. This beauty has a more perfumed, classic style that carries ample crème de cassis, graphite, violets, leafy herbs, tobacco, and some savory, herbal, forest floor notes. Medium to full-bodied, silky, pure, and elegant, it’s another seamless wine from this team.
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.