Winemaker Notes
Blend: 91% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Merlot 1% Cabernet Franc, 1% Malbec, 1% Petit Verdot
Professional Ratings
-
Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: I stored this wine in our cellar for a decade, and I was glad to catch it at this time of its life. The years have been good to this wine. Perhaps a few more years will bring additional rewards. TASTING NOTES: This wine is still youthful in its aromas and flavors. Enjoy its complex mix of black fruit and cedar with a lightly grilled lamb chop. (Tasted: January 16, 2020, San Francisco, CA)
-
Wine Enthusiast
Very ripe and deeply extracted in concentrated blackberry fruit, with a rich overlay of oak and the fine acidity and tannins that characterize a well made Napa Valley Cabernet. Lacks the stunning complexity of the ’05 and even the '07, but still a remarkable wine. Needs time. Cellar until after 2015.
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.