Winemaker Notes
Rich, deep red garnet color with aromas and flavors of black currant, ripe plum, and blackberry. Notes of lavender, cocoa, and leather are layered with black pepper and vanilla bean. Full-bodied and intense, this wine is balanced and well-structured with seamless acidity and firm tannins.
This powerful wine pairs well with beef, lamb, pork, or game dishes. Winery Chef Chris suggests trying it with Cured Beef with Parmesan and Arugula or using the wine to braise Beef Short Ribs.
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
Decanter World Wide Wine Awards- Best in Show For the second year running, it’s an Oak Knoll Cabernet which has carried the Best In Show torch for the Napa, underlining the fact that this spot in the Valley seems to be ideal for mingling Napa’s diagnostic generosity and depth with an expressive finesse and an approachability which both appeals to our judges and chimes with the wine world’s zeitgeist. The wine is still dark black-purple, and the aromatic currant and berry fruits are blue, tender and enticing, with skilled and seamless oak integration. On the palate, the wine has weight and depth -- but what you really notice in this 2018 vintage is its purity and inner energy; the weight and depth follow on after, but don’t overwhelm from the start. The seamless integration of acidity and brisk tannin, too, is another mouthwatering hallmark -- of skilled winemaking, or the place? Who’s to say?
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Wine & Spirits
The Trefethen family farms 400 acres of vines on Oak Knoll Road, and at an additional 40 acres focused on Bordeaux varieties at Hill- spring, above the fog line in the Mayacamas Mountains. They emphasize the cool side of Napa Valley in this savory cabernet with herbal details and violet scents. Its muscular tannins build on the wine’s youthful strength without adding weight. Rather than viscous, this is elegant and ready to decant for dinner, whether tonight or in two years or ten.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2018 Trefethen Cabernet Sauvignon captures the essence of this cooler AVA in the Napa Valley. TASTING NOTES: This wine combines aromas and flavors of dried herbs, earth, and black fruit. Enjoy it with a lightly spiced meat stew. (Tasted: April 21, 2021, San Francisco, CA)
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Connoisseurs' Guide
10% Petit Verdot; 3% Merlot; 2% Malbec; 1% Cabernet Franc. Deep and very well-defined curranty fruit is the centerpiece here and is joined by both lovely accents of mildly creamy oak and the lightly loamy traits emblematic of Cabernet Sauvignons from the Napa Valley floor. Fleshy, moderately full and firmed by the pushy presence of youthful tannins, the wine toughens a touch in the latter going, though no more than is expected of a good Cabernet of its age, and, if a half-decade of patience will result in a more supple wine, this one has the right pieces in the right places to age beautifully and gain in polish and complexity for twice as long.
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.
As one of Napa’s coolest sub-appellations, the area begs for diversity among its vineyards. Merlot and Chardonnay firmly compete with Cabernet Sauvignon for a place here. Some of Napa’s best Zinfandels also come from the Oak Knoll District.
Situated far in Napa’s southern end, Oak Knoll receives a strong cooling influence from both the San Pablo Bay and the Pacific Coast’s evening fog and breezes. Summer days are warm but on average ten degrees cooler than in St. Helena farther north up the valley; summer nights are chilly. A long growing season promotes for leisurely ripening of grape berries, resulting in an impressive balance of sugars, phenols and acidity.
Notable producers include Trefethen, one of the appellation’s oldest wineries, Robert Biale, legendary Zinfandel producer and Lewis Cellars, a family-run, hands-on establishment.