Winemaker Notes
Blend: 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Malbec, 16% Merlot
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Deep, rich and potent, with a seam of elegance and textural suppleness that bodes well for the future, offering a core of dark berry, lead pencil and cedary oak, backed by extracted tannins. Tasted from magnum. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Malbec. Best from 2020 through 2035.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
A stylish red wine, the 2013 Xtant Red Wine exhibits elegance that often escapes other wineries. This wine is big without being overbearing. Its combination of black fruit, oak, and chalk stay seamless and beautiful from start to finish. Pair it with a juicy charbroiled steak. (Tasted: November 17, 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.