Winemaker Notes
The base starts with old-vine Zinfandel from Venge's Signal Fire Vineyard in Calistoga (where some of those vines have been producing for over 100 years!) and build upon that with dry-farmed Petite Sirah, old-vine Charbono, and finish with mountain-vineyard Syrah from the Stagecoach Vineyard. The result is an unpretentious red wine that will satisfy time and time again. Not just a fan-favorite, this wine honors Venge's late winery dog, Scout.
This vintage has a gorgeous, concentrated assemblage of aromas of stone fruits, crushed blue herbs, violets, cherry, anise, and a touch of honeysuckle. On the palate is pure richness from the old-vine Zinfandel with loads of super-ripe blackberry, pepper spice, and an enveloping masculinity of char and tannins from the Syrah, Charbono and Petite Sirah. A seamless balance and mouth coating deliciousness are found throughout the palate, with an extra-long finish with a touch of barrel tannin at the end.
Blend: 70% Zinfandel, 14% Charbono, 9% Petite Sirah, 7% Syrah
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2015 Red Blend Scout's Honor is an almost kitchen sink blend of 70% Zinfandel, 14% Charbono, and the balance Petite Sirah and Syrah. It’s a huge, fruit bomb beauty that’s loaded with notions of tobacco leaf, plums, Asian spice, and violets. Fleshy, fat, opulent, and deliciously full-bodied, this head turner has remarkable purity, no hard edges, and is impossible to resist.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Deep garnet-purple colored, the blend for the 2015 Scout's Honor is 70% Zinfandel, 14% Charbono, 9% Petite Sirah and 7% Syrah. The nose offers up warm blackberries, cherry pie and mocha with hints of cedar and roses. Full-bodied, rich and opulent with velvety tannins, it finishes long and perfumed.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
A delicious mix of grape varieties—mostly Zinfandel, some Charbono, Petite Sirah, and Syrah, the 2015 Venge Vineyards Scout's Honor Napa Valley Red Wine is aromatic and beautiful. The wine's delightfully black fruit flavors and generous palate textures invite a pairing with lightly spiced braised beef. (Tasted: November 29, 2017, San Francisco, CA)
Undoubtedly proving its merit over and over, Napa Valley is a now a leading force in the world of prestigious red wine regions. Though Cabernet Sauvignon dominates Napa Valley, other red varieties certainly thrive here. Important but often overlooked include Merlot and other Bordeaux varieties well-regarded on their own as well as for their blending capacities. Very old vine Zinfandel represents an important historical stronghold for the region and Pinot noir is produced in the cooler southern parts, close to the San Pablo Bay.
Perfectly situated running north to south, the valley acts as a corridor, pulling cool, moist air up from the San Pablo Bay in the evenings during the hot days of the growing season, which leads to even and slow grape ripening. Furthermore the valley claims over 100 soil variations including layers of volcanic, gravel, sand and silt—a combination excellent for world-class red wine production.