Navigator Cabernet Sauvignon AVA California 2016
| Country: | United States |
| Region: | California |
| Grape Type: | Cabernet Sauvignon |
| Winery: | Navigator |
Navigator Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon
16 months in stainless steel and French oak barrels
Sourced from multiple vineyards accross California, the Navigator Cabernet Sauvignon is a complex yet easy drinking wine. Flavors of dark red fruit with notes of baking spice and coco envelop the palate and lead to a soft yet lengthy finish.
This California Cabernet Sauvignon has rich flavors with a hint of black currant and cherry. The tannins are soft, leading to a smooth finish with a hint of oaked vanilla and a touch of eucalyptus/mint freshness.
100% California AVA Cabernet Sauvignon.
Average age of the vines: 15 years.
Picked at premium ripeness. Fermented in static tanks with pump-overs three times per day.
Aged five months French oak Barrels.
Alcohol: 13.5%
RS 0.5 g/l
TA 5.7 g/l
Serve this deep purple hued beauty with a variety of hearty dishes ranging from Osso Bucco to grilled red meats and cheeses.
Avatar Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon
Aged in 100% French Oak barrels for 4 months and then 6 months in the bottle beofre release
Avatar is the embodiment of the Agrelo´s terroir in a wine. Striking, audacious, joyful, profound. A spontaneous and honest experience for the senses. Challenging pleasures.
Presents a vibrant red color with glints of bordeaux. Great aromatic intensity. The spiciness of the nose is echoed on the palate and combines well with juicy red fruit flavors. It expresses in a very fresh way, with red fruits, sweet tannins and balanced acidity.
Coming from Agrelo district.
Average of the vines is 25 years old.
Soil type: Alluvial and sandy soils with a big amount of rocks just besides the Mendoza river. This is one of the most prestigious terroirs in Argentina.
Winemaking: Crushing, destemming and maceration pre-fermentative at 11ºC for 24 hours. Alcoholic fermentation in tanks. 4 weeks of skin contact maceration. Aged in French oak barrels for 4 months, Malolactic fermentation in contact with fine lees.
Wine was slightly filtered before bottling.
Boich Beckstoffer Missouri Hopper Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 100 percent Napa Cabernet Sauvignon.
22 months in French Oak- Taransaud and Darnajou
Thick, dense and expansive, the Missouri Hopper shows dark fig and cassis preserves, dried cherry and strawberry. Clone 337 from this historic site in southeast Oakville, a touch of molasses and stick spices linger throughout. Despite its saturation and size on the palate, the flavors roll perfectly together through a long and inky finish. This wine has the ability to taste great upon release and cellar well beyond while building complexity and nuance.
Vintage Notes – The fifth consecutively exceptional year for Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2016 growing season brought early bud break and spring rain. Temperate summer conditions allowed the fruit much needed time to naturally mature on the vine. A near perfect vintage, most vineyards saw slightly lower than average yields, but this coveted crop shows tremendous quality.
Beckstoffer Missouri Hopper – One of Napa Valley’s oldest vineyards, Beckstoffer Missouri Hopper yields ripe fruit full of balance and power. Perfectly trellised vines soak up morning fog from the San Pablo Bay, while the robust foliage of the vines protect growing clusters from summer heat.
Oakville AVA – Lying along the valley floor, Napa Valley’s Oakville AVA brings the best of climate, soil and topography to wine growing. Beyond terroir, Oakville is lined with family-owned vineyards, meticulous farmers and winemakers. Fertile soils promote world-class grape growing conditions, while warm summers and dry, cool autumns are perfect for Cabernet Sauvignon.
Argot Starstruck Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 90% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot (15-25 years old)
Sourcing from vineyards scattered throughout Napa Valley’s spectrum of terroirs, this wine arrives in the glass with a great complexity of personality. Remaining true to last vintage’s bottling, 2016’s Starstruck pours a vibrant purple, offering vibrant aromatics, regal structure and great freshness. Where this bottling has evolved, is by way of Sage Ridge’s warmer, up-valley, higher elevation, red-fruited power, which bolsters the dark blue/purple, cool-fruited character of the other three, cooler-climate Cabernet Sauvignon vineyards. Further, the addition of Merlot has added a wonderful juiciness in both flavor and structure. A palate’s tour of Napa Valley’s myriad terroir — sunbaked ridgetops; forested hillsides; orange-soils; cooling, maritime winds; dense, fog-shrouded mornings. While 2016 keeps with the theme from previous vintages, new flourishes have been added to the mix — a warmer, up-valley vineyard, along with a dollop of Merlot — to up the ante. This cuvee opens to an alluring approach-ability, vibrance, and kiss of juiciness, by way of baked red pie-fruits. On a beam of blood orange accents, a powerfully precise delineation of intense dark fruits flushes out the palate. A singularly delicious and complex representation of Cabernet Sauvignon from the Napa Valley, that begs to be devoured.
Sourced from four Napa Valley vineyards — Suscol Ranch’s orange, iron-laden soils; Sugarloaf West’s fiercely steep hillside; Sugarloaf East’s south-facing, ferociously rocky “soils”; Sage Ridge’s geographically dramatic ridgetop vineyard in far-eastern Napa. CRUSH: Hand-harvested at night, to protect fruit integrity — Sage Ridge, 9/12, 9/26; Sugarloafs and Suscol, 10/13. Cluster sorted, destemmed, berry sorted by hand, fully crushed. FERMENT: 7-day cold soaks, an average of 20 days skin contact. Individual vineyards raised separately, blended shortly before bottling. AGING: 20 months in French oak, 80% new. Suscol Ranch barrels racked once at twelve months. Bottled unfined, unfiltered.
Review:
The 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Starstruck is a step up and offers more density and depth, as well as the classic purity of fruit that makes this vintage so compelling. Ripe, powerful notes of blueberries, cassis, green tobacco, and graphite all flow to a full-bodied Cabernet that has loads of fruit, ripe tannins, good acidity, and the class to evolve for upwards of two decades. Bravo!" - Jeb Dunnuck (January 2019), 94 pts
Avennia Red Willow Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon.
The Red Willow Cabernet is a true blockbuster.
Coming from one specific block of 30 year old vines at this iconic vineyard, then strictly barrel selected, this is the essence of powerful, old vine Washington Cabernet. After all of our efforts promoting the idea of the Bordeaux blend, it would take a pretty compelling argument to suspend that idea and make a 100% varietal Cabernet. In 2016 Red Willow provided us with just that. Each time we tasted it in the barrel, the belief grew that this was something special. Something we can't make every year. In the end we were won over, and decided to make a limited amount of this wine. But don't be fooled, as this too is a blend and a selection. Each year as we are tasting the grapes as harvest approaches, we notice that the vines near the bottom of this long, steep west-facing slope, are a little different. The vines at the bottom are in a little richer soil, and get a little more water, so we pick them separately, sometimes even a week or ten days apart, and keep them separate in barrel.
This wine is all from the top of the vineyard, with its lower yield and poorer soils giving more concentration and interest. Then further, nearly every combination of new and used French oak barrels were trialed to find the best blend. It's not enough just to use the four best barrels, but to trial each combination to see how they complement each other. For a wine with this much mass, 100% new French oak was used for the first time at Avennia. It is a wine that needs a little cellaring to start, but should last a very long time.
Review:
Made from 100% Red Willow Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Red Willow is another gem from this great winemaker. Deep purple-colored, with a huge perfume of blackberries, crème de cassis, cedarwood, pencil lead, and graphite, it hits the palate with medium to full-bodied richness and depth, nicely integrated acidity, and building, ripe tannins. Give bottles 3-4 years and it too will cruise for 15-20 years or more.
- Jeb Dunnuck (April 2019), 95 Points
Navigator Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon
16 months in stainless steel and French oak barrels
Sourced from multiple vineyards accross California, the Navigator Cabernet Sauvignon is a complex yet easy drinking wine. Flavors of dark red fruit with notes of baking spice and coco envelop the palate and lead to a soft yet lengthy finish.
Navigator wines are made with the highest expression using award-winning vineyards around Napa Valley. The winemaking process elegantly focuses on blending to navigate exceptional depth and complexity.
- back
Bright and light golden-yellow in color. Exotic and sweet vanilla bean aromatics backed by pear and kiwi with a slight orange peel. The palate resonates with texture and depth as stone minerality and cream brioche to match. Flavors of roasted plantains, gravenstein apple, and lemon zest frame the wine for a long yet soft finish.
Planted in the early 90’s, this is the coolest vineyard site in the Russian River Valley, located at Lee Martinelli Sr.’s home ranch in Forestville, CA. After riding around with Lee in his pick-up truck when we visited his Woolsey Road, Zio Tony, and River Road Vineyards, he decided to take me to this gem. He kept this particular vineyard in his back pocket until we hit it off. We did, and I think you’ll enjoy the ride as well.
Review:
Elusively crisp and inviting on the nose, this is a thickly intriguing wine, floral in orange blossom and fresh apple. Structured and lengthy, it retains a tangy acidity and structured finish, the grapes sourced from a dry-farmed vineyard. - Wine Enthusiast 92 Points
Lismore Pinot Noir is made from 100 percent Pinot Noir
Complex bouquet of crushed rose petals, wild jasmine and fresh French herbs followed by a palate full of cranberry, raspberry and a long savory finish.
The grapes were picked at optimal ripeness. 30% whole bunch fermented in large 5000 liter vats with gentle pump-overs twice a day. The process allowed for a long extraction period which lends to the fruit expression and structure of this wine. The free run wine was drained off and the fermented grapes were then pressed in a traditional wooden basket press. The wine was racked into 225, 300 and 500 liter barrels where malolactic fermentation took place and the wine was aged for 10 months. 35% new French oak was used.
Review:
"On the nose, the 2017 Pinot Noir begins with classic dusty red fruit with subtle red spice tones and hints of oak. On the palate, the wine is just slightly tart, revealing some fresh, zippy cranberry tones with orange spice that lingers through to the finish. The mouthfeel is something like that from the Willamette Valley, where it has a quiet strength at its core, with complex fruit and soft earthy tones. The finish is long and shows great focus and balance. It's beautiful now, but I know it will get better with age. Be patient and let it rest. - Anthony Mueller"
- Robert Parker's Wine Advocate (Issue #245, October 2019), 92+ pts
