Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
A blockbuster styled effort that oozes Napa Cabernet charm, the 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Yao Family Reserve (95% Cabernet Sauvignon and the balance Merlot and PeIt Verdot) comes from bench land vineyards in Rutherford and was aged all in new barrels. This deep, concentrated 2015 boasts a vibrant purple color to go with awesome notes of blueberries, plums, violets, lavender, and incense. This beauty hits the palate with full-bodied richness and serious amounts of fruit, yet stays light, graceful and weightless, with fine tannin and beauIfully integrated acidity. This majesIc beauty will age effortlessly for two decades or more.
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James Suckling
Wow. This really sets itself apart from the get-go with a plethora of aromas including cigar box, freshly picked blackcurrants, forest floor, a hint of vanilla, bark, crushed stones, lavender, pressed violets and spearmint. The palate is tremendously layered, but it's all compressed in an envelop of velvety tannins with a real push of acidity that carries this through to a long, smoky finish. Wonderful now but drink from 2022.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A blend of 95% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Merlot and 1% Pe;t Verdot, the 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Yao Family Reserve sports a deep garnet-purple color and offers up aromas of crème de cassis, blackberry tart and baking spices with hints of cedar, lavender and chocolate box. Medium to full-bodied with firm, grainy tannins, it's finely craQed with great expression and a lively liQ to the finish.
Range:95+ -
Wine Enthusiast
Blended with 3% Petit Verdot, this dark-garnet wine bursts with aromas of herb, clove, tobacco and cedar. Aged entirely in new French oak for two years, it shows a decadent, sumptuous texture built by soft, integrated tannins around a core of dark chocolate and cassis.
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Wine Spectator
A rich, plush effort, featuring graceful plum, blackberry and black cherry flavors, shaded by light anise and spice accents, with caressing tannins. Best from 2020 through 2032.
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.