My First comment tasting this wine is "wow!" It's delicious; our flagship wine at Paradigm and it delivers. Dense, deep, ripe aromas of black berry and black cherry-like fruit layered with caramel and toastiness from a nice mix of French Oak barrels. Flavors coat the palate with matching notes in a classic Cabernet Sauvignon presentation. One of our best Cabs to date!
Paradigm Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 96% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Merlot , 1% Petit Verdot
Review:
"Owned and managed by the Harris family, Paradigm winery produced its first vintage in 1991 in Oakville with winemaker Heidi Barrett. A self-contained winery estate with 50 acres of vineyards, Paradigm maintains a hands-on approach to all winemaking and vineyard operations. The 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon consists of 89% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Merlot, 3% Petit Verdot and 2% Cabernet Franc, and is aged in both new and used French oak for 20 months, then aged a further 20 months in bottle before release. The total production for this vintage was 5,544 bottles." Blind tasted by Dave Allen, Stephen Brook, Terry Kandylis (at Decanter Magazine's December 2019 Californian Cabernet 2015 Panel Tasting, London, 17 Sep 2019)
- Decanter 95 Points
Paradigm Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 90% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Merlot, 1% Petit Verdot, 1% Cabernet Franc
20 months in French oak (only about a third of that is new oak) and for 20 more months in bottle before release
Our winemaking "style" is solely determined by this place or terrior we call "Paradigm." Winemaking is agriculture when you own your vineyards and are able to farm them to promote the very best Earth will give you. All of our selections of wines are made from five varietals on the estate. Every wine is 100% farmed and grown by us.
Complexity in our wines supported by luscious fruit and acidity is our hallmark. Our efforts during harvest and barrel cellaring concentrate on maintaining the freshness from the first day we handpicked each vineyard block. Simple winemaking protocols are employed while crucial “timing” oriented winemaking decisions rule each day.
Dark Cabernet color with beautiful aromas of black cherry, cassis, plus 5-spice, vanilla. Big, ripe and mouthcoating across the palate. The flavors are similar to the aromas with ripe fruit, berry/cherry pie, moderate tannins, and nice length. This wine shows enough structure to be age-worth, yet soft and balanced enough to enjoy upon release. Flavors linger in this tasty, dense wine. Tastes like Oakville. -Heidi Barrett
Review:
"Pretty cassis and blackberry fruits as well as notes of cedar pencil, spicy oak, and tobacco emerge from the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville. Medium-bodied, it has a balanced, elegant texture, moderate tannins, and a good finish. It's a complex, classy wine to enjoy over the coming decade or more. This is a classic, workhorse styled Cabernet from winemaker Heidi Barrett with lots to love. The blend is 87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Merlot, 4% Petit Verdot, and the balance Cabernet Franc, all aged 20 months in French oak."
- Jeb Dunnuck (March 2021), 90 pts
Paradigm Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 90% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Merlot, 1% Petit Verdot, 1% Cabernet Franc
20 months in French oak (only about a third of that is new oak) and for 20 more months in bottle before release
Our winemaking "style" is solely determined by this place or terrior we call "Paradigm." Winemaking is agriculture when you own your vineyards and are able to farm them to promote the very best Earth will give you. All of our selections of wines are made from five varietals on the estate. Every wine is 100% farmed and grown by us.
Complexity in our wines supported by luscious fruit and acidity is our hallmark. Our efforts during harvest and barrel cellaring concentrate on maintaining the freshness from the first day we handpicked each vineyard block. Simple winemaking protocols are employed while crucial “timing” oriented winemaking decisions rule each day.
Dark Cabernet color with beautiful aromas of black cherry, cassis, plus 5-spice, vanilla. Big, ripe and mouthcoating across the palate. The flavors are similar to the aromas with ripe fruit, berry/cherry pie, moderate tannins, and nice length. This wine shows enough structure to be age-worth, yet soft and balanced enough to enjoy upon release. Flavors linger in this tasty, dense wine. Tastes like Oakville. -Heidi Barrett
Paradigm Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 90% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Merlot, 1% Petit Verdot, 1% Cabernet Franc
20 months in French oak (only about a third of that is new oak) and for 20 more months in bottle before release
Our winemaking "style" is solely determined by this place or terrior we call "Paradigm." Winemaking is agriculture when you own your vineyards and are able to farm them to promote the very best Earth will give you. All of our selections of wines are made from five varietals on the estate. Every wine is 100% farmed and grown by us.
Complexity in our wines supported by luscious fruit and acidity is our hallmark. Our efforts during harvest and barrel cellaring concentrate on maintaining the freshness from the first day we handpicked each vineyard block. Simple winemaking protocols are employed while crucial “timing” oriented winemaking decisions rule each day.
Dark Cabernet color with beautiful aromas of black cherry, cassis, plus 5-spice, vanilla. Big, ripe and mouthcoating across the palate. The flavors are similar to the aromas with ripe fruit, berry/cherry pie, moderate tannins, and nice length. This wine shows enough structure to be age-worth, yet soft and balanced enough to enjoy upon release. Flavors linger in this tasty, dense wine. Tastes like Oakville. -Heidi Barrett
Paradigm Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 90% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Merlot, 1% Petit Verdot, 1% Cabernet Franc
20 months in French oak (only about a third of that is new oak) and for 20 more months in bottle before release
Our winemaking "style" is solely determined by this place or terrior we call "Paradigm." Winemaking is agriculture when you own your vineyards and are able to farm them to promote the very best Earth will give you. All of our selections of wines are made from five varietals on the estate. Every wine is 100% farmed and grown by us.
Complexity in our wines supported by luscious fruit and acidity is our hallmark. Our efforts during harvest and barrel cellaring concentrate on maintaining the freshness from the first day we handpicked each vineyard block. Simple winemaking protocols are employed while crucial “timing” oriented winemaking decisions rule each day.
Paradigm Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 90% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Merlot, 1% Petit Verdot, 1% Cabernet Franc
20 months in French oak (only about a third of that is new oak) and for 20 more months in bottle before release
Our winemaking "style" is solely determined by this place or terrior we call "Paradigm." Winemaking is agriculture when you own your vineyards and are able to farm them to promote the very best Earth will give you. All of our selections of wines are made from five varietals on the estate. Every wine is 100% farmed and grown by us.
Complexity in our wines supported by luscious fruit and acidity is our hallmark. Our efforts during harvest and barrel cellaring concentrate on maintaining the freshness from the first day we handpicked each vineyard block. Simple winemaking protocols are employed while crucial “timing” oriented winemaking decisions rule each day.
Tenute Silvio Nardi Brunello di Montalcino is made from 100 percent Sangiovese.
Quite intense ruby red color with garnet highlights. Intense and complex aromas at the nose, rich in ripe fruits, spices and toasted notes. Smooth and bodied at the palate, with great persistence, elegant and wide concentration. Tannins are dense and velvety.
Reviews:
Blackberry, black-truffle and black-cherry aromas follow through to a medium body with juicy fruit and a long, flavorful finish. Polished, pretty tannins here. Nicely crafted. Drink after 2026.
-James Suckling 94 Points
In the bottle with the burgundy-colored label, the Tenute Silvio Nardi 2019 Brunello di Montalcino is a layered and generous wine with black fruit, cherry, spice and a hint of Provençal mixed herbs on black olive. There are further hints of underbrush, crushed slate, petrichor from schistic soils, and toasted almond that adds some sweetness from French oak. The tannins are velvety and soft, but this wine is regularly balanced throughout. It's well made in an ample production of 150,000 bottles.
- Robert Parker's Wine Advocate 94 Points
A spicy version, whose black pepper and Szechuan peppercorn notes highlight the core cherry and strawberry flavors. Underbrush and iron accents also enter the mix, while this stays balanced and long as the tannins leave their grip on the finish.
-Wine Spectator 94 Points
Luis Canas Rioja Crianza is made from 95% Tempranillo and 5% Garnacha
A classic style Rioja from one of the regions most enduring family run wineries.. The hillside terraced vineyards are sheltered by the Sierra Cantabria Mountains to the north from harsh weather extremes. Small plot production is utilized in this region of infertile chalky clay soil to produce clusters of excellent quality. Almost 900 plots are needed to complete the approximately 400 hectares of estate-owned or cellar-controlled vineyards, some with vines more than 100 years in age.
Tasting notes
Made from 95% Tempranillo, 5% Garnacha of 30 years of age, the wine shows a ruby red color, a clean nose with nuances of balsamic, plum and cedar. The palate is smooth and velvety, complex and structured, with fruit, spice flavors with toasted oak. A pleasant finish with red fruits and hints of eucalyptus.
The harvest
This year in Rioja Alavesa the weather has been especially cold, the summer short and dry, and there has been plenty of rain in early September. This has produced wines with great aromatic notes, particularly those coming from high altitude areas, very fragrant and with great structure.
Winemaking and aging
Upon entering the bodega and passing the selection table, the grapes are de-stemmed and crushed before undergoing fermentation and then maceration in stainless steel tanks for a total of 8 days, obtaining better color extraction as well as much more complex wines, suitable for prolonged aging. The wine is clarified with vegetable gelatines and follows anicrobic filtration.
It is ideal to pair with meats; red meat, poultry, small game, oily fish, semi-cured cheeses, spicy dishes and hot dishes such as beans or potatoes Rioja style.
After its primary fermentation, the wine is placed in barrels where it undergoes malolactic fermentation and is aged for a minimum of 12 months. It is then bottled for at least another 12 months.
Review:
"Juicy Bing cherries, peppery herbs, leather, and cedarwood notes all emerge from the 2021 Rioja Crianza, a medium-bodied, concentrated, round, layered red that has supple tannins, beautiful fruit, and a great finish. This classic Rioja has tons to love."
- Jeb Dunnuck (Importer Highlight: Fran Kysela ; July 2024), 91 pts