Buccella Merlot Napa Valley 2018

Buccella Cuvee Katrina Eileen Napa Valley is made from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon.

Named after our first-born daughter, Cuvée Katrina Eileen is primarily composed of fruit from a vineyard in the Western Hills of Yountville, where yields are miniscule. The extremely rocky soil of the vineyard produces concentrated clusters of perfectly ripened Cabernet Sauvignon. In German, the name “Katrina” represents purity and fittingly, this wine is made entirely from the Cabernet Sauvignon grape, providing a pure expression of this decadent varietal. It also reflects our daughter’s personality with flavors that are complex, unreserved and expressive.

Always a 100% Cabernet blend, our 2017 Cuvée Katrina Eileen is an opulent and mouth-enriching wine. Captivated by the inky-black color, luscious scents of dark espresso and cinnamon stick leap out, along with powerful elements of graphite and cassis. Remarkably rich and seamless, while boasting flavors of blueberry compote, dark chocolate and black raspberries, this is a compelling and luxurious wine focused upon velvety texture, silky tannins and incredible length. An intentional breadth on the palate and length in the finish are hallmarks of this wine.

Cardinale Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 95% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Merlot.

 Winemaker CHRISTOPHER CARPENTER

Reviews:

The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon is based on a blend of 90% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Merlot that spent 22 months in 81% new French oak. It’s a wonderfully complete, borderline perfect wine that shows the class of this estate as well as the vintage, revealing a seamless, full-bodied style that carries lots of blackcurrant, graphite, lead pencil, and tobacco aromatics, a deep, layered mid-palate, ultra-fine tannins, and flawless balance. As with most of Chris’s 2018s, it’s a wine that builds slowly with time in the glass, offering a layered, singular character. It’s a gorgeous 2018 that can be drunk today with ample pleasure, but it will ideally be given 4-6 years of bottle age, at which point it should evolve gracefully for 30-40 years. - Jeb Dunnuck 98+ Points

The 2018 Cardinale Cabernet Sauvignon is rich and sumptuous right out of the gate. Soaring aromatics and silky tannins add finesse to the dark mountain fruit. It's hard to remember a vintage with this much sheer appeal in the early going. As always, Cardinale is a blend of choice hillside blocks. In 2018, the core is built around Stags Leap, Atlas Peak and St. Helena. Winemaker Chris Carpenter has backed off some of the overtness of the past years, and that is a huge benefit in allowing the wine to be more natural, more relaxed. The 2018 spent 21 months in 80-90% new oak, and clearly has the stuffing to handle the oak. It is one of the most refined Cardinales I can remember tasting. -- Antonio Galloni 97+ Points

Composed of 90% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Merlot, the 2018 Cardinale was aged in French oak barrels for 22 months, 81% new. Deep garnet-purple colored, it prances out of the glass with gregarious notions of warm cassis, black cherries and wild blueberries, followed by emerging earth scents with a tobacco and garrigue undercurrent. Medium to full-bodied, gracefully styled and refreshing, the vibrant black and blue-fruited palate offers a wonderfully fine-grained texture and bags of energy, finishing long with a skip in its step. 5,107 cases were made. -Wine Advocate 98 Points

Far Niente Estate Bottled Cabernet Sauvignon  is made from 93.3% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3.8% Petit Verdot, 2.3% Cabernet Franc, 0.5% Merlot and 0.1% Malbec.

An elegant perfume of mixed berries, baking spice, dried lavender and thyme open onto a full palate layered with expansive mixed berry, black tea, toasted oak and spice flavors. Focused and fresh, fine grained tannins support the wine throughout, while the finish is silky, long and lifted.

The wine combines select vineyards in Rutherford, Calistoga and St. Helena that complement our home in Oakville and embody our long-established house style. Cabernet has been a hallmark of Far Niente’s winemaking program beginning with its very first vintage in 1982. The marriage of these diverse vineyard sites has allowed us to craft our finest expression of Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. This wine exemplifies our nearly four decades of mastery in growing and making Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.

Review:

This memorable Cabernet Sauvignon has small amounts of Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Malbec blended in. Aged 17 months in a majority of new French oak, it unfurls flavors of red fruit, dried herb and clove over a core of youthful tannin and spicy oak. Best from 2028–2038. Cellar Selection. 

-Wine Enthusiast 95 Points

Including small amounts of Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Malbec, the 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon sports a deep purple color as well as classic Cabernet notes of blackcurrants, new leather, tobacco leaf, flowers, and lead pencil. Beautifully done on the palate and made in a seamless, elegant style, it has a kiss of Pauillac in its nicely integrated acidity, ripe, building tannins, a touch of earthiness, and a great finish. It's not a blockbuster, just seamless and elegant, with a thrilling character. It should keep for 20+ years.

-Jeb Dunnuck 95 Points

Tuck Beckstoffer Mad Hatter Napa Valley Red is made from 66%Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Old Vine Petit Sirah, 10% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot.

Under the winemaking and farming direction of Shawn Johnson and Tuck Beckstoffer, vineyard blocks were selected with a blend of micro climates and soils to highlight the best Napa Valley has to offer, creating a wine with complex aromas, purity of fruit, balance, and a long silky finish.

Since the beginning of Mad Hatter in 2003, our goal has been to craft an elegant Bordeaux blend using grapes grown throughout the Napa Valley. The 2018 vintage continues this commitment, with a sophisticated blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Old Vine Petite Sirah, Merlot, Petit Verdot, and Cabernet Franc.

Expressive aromas of black plum, wild hyacinth, and clove. The palette evolves flavors of black cherry, dark chocolate, and baking spice further enhanced by the wine’s velvety tannins, and long delicate finish. Pair this wine with pan roasted pheasant, grilled root vegetables, or a charred Ribeye steak. 

Dunn Vineyards Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 100 percent Cabernet.

This Napa Valley wine is a blend of their Howell Mountain fruit and a small quantity of valley floor fruit that they purchase. This valley floor fruit contributes to the wine’s earlier approachability and softer tannic structure.

Review:

“The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa Valley) is a gorgeous wine, especially for Dunn fans who want a wine to drink that won't take forever to come around. Dark and savory, with terrific depth, the 2018 is full of character. Black cherry, lavender, chocolate, sage, mint and cloves all open in the glass. The 2018 has just enough grip to have a good amount of classic structure, but not to the point of being forbidding. The Napa Cabernet is about 55% Howell Mountain and 45% Coombsville fruit. The 2018 is beautifully done and an absolute delight.”

-Vinous 94 Points

Hoopla The Mutt Napa Valley is made from 81% Merlot and 19% Cabernet Sauvignon.

“The Mutt” was inspired by Maya and Sophie, our beloved rescue dogs. “The Mutt,” like Maya and Sophie, is playful, unique and interesting. The grapes used are the “seconds”—what we don’t use in our premium wines, we salvage and use in “The Mutt.” Maya and Sophie aren’t shy about their pedigrees, and we’re not shy about using “seconds,” either, because they make a wine made from premium grapes very affordable and tasty, too. So come take a walk on the wild side—this Merlotful red blend will have you running through the vineyards, leaping for joy!