Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Ultrarich and concentrated, with extracted currant, blackberry and plum fruit highlighted by pretty smoky, toasty oak, giving it a mochalike scent. Focused, complex, with deep, ripe flavors and tannins.
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Wine Enthusiast
Richly textured and plush on the palate, with a broad array of raspberry, black cherry, plum, spice, coffee, herb and cocoa flavors, all couched in firm, ripe tannins and sweet oak. Only 200 cases made from this relatively new producer high in the hills of Napa.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The tightly-knit 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon displays a saturated ruby/purple color as well as pure, rich creme de cassis flavors intermixed with spicy oak, licorice, and a hint of lead pencil shavings. Medium to full-bodied, elegant, sweet, and ripe, with style and class, it can be drunk now or cellared for 10-15 years.
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.