Pine Ridge Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Merlot, 7% Petite Sirah, 5% Malbec.
While admiring the cranberry red hue, forward fruit aromatics of black cherry and cassis begin to make your mouth water before the first sip! On the palate, juicy notes of blueberry compote and cherry cordial meld seamlessly with hints of cinnamon and cream soda. The wine methodically transitions from the bright, round entry through the viscous midpalate and onto a broad-shouldered finish. This is where hints of clove, graham cracker and toasted marshmallow are juxtaposed with those of dark roast coffee and Bing cherry. This wine can be enjoyed now but will benefit from another 10 to 20 years of bottle age.
It pairs beautifully with a vegetarian chili and cornbread slathered in a generous helping of sweet cream butter.
Review:
Alluring nuances of rose petal, tobacco and cinnamon lead into a ripe, chocolaty palate of black cherries, cocoa and raspberries as a soft, velvety texture achieves a very smooth mouthfeel.
-Wine Enthusiast 93 Points
REVIEW
Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Snake Oil needs a little swirling to reveal emerging notes of freshly crushed blackcurrants, blackberry pie and mulberries plus suggestions of tilled soil, cedar chest and Indian spices with a touch of roses. The full-bodied palate completely coats the mouth with opulent black fruit preserves and exotic spice layers, supported by velvety tannins and lovely freshness, finishing long and perfumed.
-Wine Advocate 93+ Points
The 2018 Priest Ranch Snake Oil is all Cabernet Sauvignon, from a trio of hillside vineyards on the Somerston Estate. It has beautiful blueberry and plum fruits as well as notes of sappy herbs, violets, and bouquet garni. More medium-bodied, focused, and elegant, it shines for its purity, freshness, and length. It’s a classic 2018 that will have 15+ years of longevity.
-Jeb Dunnuck 93 Points
Our 2018 Snake Oil was handpicked, sorted, and fermented naturally, then aged for 24 months in 75% new French oak barrels and 25% once-used French oak barrels.
HARVEST NOTES
The early half of 2018 brought us moderate temperature allowing for a long growing season. We had a majority of our rainfall in February followed by a mild Spring. Then summer brought consistent temperatures with little heat spikes. This weather allowed for longer hang time and for the fruit to ripen at a slower rate. The 2018 harvest at our estate began in late August and resulted in exceptional quality.
Riebeek Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon.
An exciting new world style wine with upfront blackcurrant flavors. The black fruit is well-balanced with subtle French oak for a complex nose and an elegant and lingering follow-through. An exceptional example of a lighter style Cabernet Sauvignon that can be enjoyed young. Excellent with red meat dishes or veal.
Cold soaked overnight. Inoculated with selected yeast. Fermentation temperature was between 24 -26 degrees Celsius. Regular pump-overs were given to enhance colour and flavour extraction. Different batches of wine matured with French oak staves and 2nd and 3rd fill barrels were all blended together to perfection.
Served at room temperature, this Cabernet Sauvignon pairs perfectly with red meat dishes, especially classic recipes like roasted leg of lam, grilled lamb chops and beef kebabs.
Rubus Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley is made from 100 percent Napa Valley Cabernet
Its long finish displays full mature flavors of blackberry, currant and chocolate with just a hint of toasty oak and black cherry. The tannins are refined and polished, allowing the fruit to be the focus.
Siegel Gran Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 100 percent Cabernet Sauvignon.
Pre-fermentative cold maceration for 5 days, with alcoholic fermentation occuring at 27-29 degrees C to better extract polyphenols from the wine. Post-fermentative maceration for 2 to 3 weeks. Once the wine has been blended it is smoothly clarified. Aged in French oak barrels for 10 to 12 months.
The grapes for the Gran Reserva wines are the product of a careful selection of Siegel's best vineyards in the Colchagua Valley, harvested by hand, and revealing a strong expression of the land.
Deep ruby red with aromas of cassis, red fruits, black pepper, black cherries, tobacco, cinnamon and chocolate. On the palate it is highly concentrated with juicy notes of red fruits and spices. Structured & complex from the oak aging.
Serve with red meat, braised stews, grilled pork and flavorful cheeses.
Siegel Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Uber Cuvee is made from 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Syrah.
Dark red color, perfumed nose with hints of vanilla. This fruity, cherry flavored wine exhibits round rich flavors that over deliver.
8 weeks of Oak aging, medium toasted barrels, 100% French Oak.
Best with grilled meats and stews.
Siegel San Elias Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 100 percent Cabernet Sauvignon.
Fresh and delicate cassis tones, a great structure. Draw the cork half an hour before serving and serve at room temperature.
Smooth and fruity on the palate, the wine goes well with pasta, salads.
Siegel Single Vineyard Los Lingues Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon.
Viña Siegel Single Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon is the result of our family's continuous search for quality wines with personality which faithfully reflect the best of our terroir. This wine comes from selected grapes from our "Los Lingues" vineyard in Alto Colchagua.
Located in the foothills of the Andes where the influence of the Andean winds result in an elegant Cabernet Sauvignon with great concentration of ripe red fruits, cassis and chocolate, and a balanced, richly structured, and long finish.
An intense violet color. Smells of cassis and is complemented with notes of mature red fruit and chocolate. A round and elegant wine with an excellent final persistence.
After carefully determining the moment for the harvest, the grapes are harvested by hand and later de-stemmed and marinated in cold temperatures for 5-6 days. Alcoholic fermentation is between 26ºC and 29ºC during which daily reassembly is implemented according to taste.Post-fermentation infusion lasts for two or three weeks. Once the blend is made, the wine is gently clarified and stabilized in cool temperatures if necessary.
Review:
"The 2017 vintage of the Los Lingues Cabernet Sauvignon is in every respect the equal of the 2016, which we rated highly. It begins with smoky, dark fruited nose and proceeds to a round, silky, well balanced palate of mineral-inflected, herbal-tinged dark cassis. There’s a sense of refinement and balance to this wine."
- I-winereview.com (March 2022), 92+ pts
Siegel Single Vineyard Los Lingues Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon.
Viña Siegel Single Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon is the result of our family's continuous search for quality wines with personality which faithfully reflect the best of our terroir. This wine comes from selected grapes from our "Los Lingues" vineyard in Alto Colchagua.
Located in the foothills of the Andes where the influence of the Andean winds result in an elegant Cabernet Sauvignon with great concentration of ripe red fruits, cassis and chocolate, and a balanced, richly structured, and long finish.
An intense violet color. Smells of cassis and is complemented with notes of mature red fruit and chocolate. A round and elegant wine with an excellent final persistence.
After carefully determining the moment for the harvest, the grapes are harvested by hand and later de-stemmed and marinated in cold temperatures for 5-6 days. Alcoholic fermentation is between 26ºC and 29ºC during which daily reassembly is implemented according to taste.Post-fermentation infusion lasts for two or three weeks. Once the blend is made, the wine is gently clarified and stabilized in cool temperatures if necessary.
Review:
"Dark olives, cassis and some fresh herbs. A medium-to full-bodied red with fresh, bright acidity and tight tannins. Sustainable. Drink now."
- James Suckling (June 2022), 90 pts
Siegel Special Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 100 percent Cabernet Sauvignon.
Viña Siegel is a family operated winery with a well-established tradition and long history. For generations we have been dedicated to the art of crafting wines with strong identities.
Our Special Reserve wines represent the union of tradition and innovation in two generations. The grapes are sourced through careful selection of our best vineyards. Their ripe and round tannins clearly express the terroir of Colchagua. Siegel Special Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon has been aged for 12 months in french oak barrels, lending it structure and complexity. The wine is deep ruby red and presents aromas of Cassis, red fruits, black pepper, black cherries, tabacco, cinnamon and chocolate. On the palate it is highly concentrated with juicy notes of red fruits and spices.
Serve with red meat, braised stews, grilles pork and flavorful cheeses.
Pre-fermentative cold maceration for 5 days, with alcoholic fermentation occurring at 27-29°C to better extract polyphenols from the wine. Post-fermentative maceration for 2 to 3 weeks. Then part of the wine is decanted into barrels for 10-12 months. The rest of the wine finishes its malolactic fermentation in stainless-steel tanks. Once the wine has been blended it is smoothly clarified.
Smith Story Cabernet Sauvignon Pickberryis made from 100 percent Cabernet Sauvignon.
This wine is an old soul. I feel closer to it than all of the wines we produce, filled with excitement to show off to the world. A rebel of sorts, a Cabernet Sauvignon that is for the curious wine drinker for sure. The 2016 is going to be a showstopper complete with an standing ovation. I can’t wait to see it on stage. Worth the wait.
Ali’s Notes: This was the vineyard I spent the most time in during the 2016 Harvest. There’s a magical view that just pulls me in mixed with an incredible assortment of vineyard rocks popping up throughout the vines. The end of the vineyard rows always had the most gorgeous blooming red roses too. I often sat under the big shade tree on top of the hillside and took it all in. I was there the morning of the pick, the vineyard workers were full of song and hustle. So much TLC was given during harvest.
Eric’s Notes: Steady and mostly uneventful growing season with a bit of midsummer spikes of heat but nothing maddening. A cool slow end of the growing season led to really pretty and balanced fruit. We did get lucky though… we had some rain come in just a few days after picking. Speaking of… the grapes were hand picked. hand sorted, destemmed and fermented in stainless steel with daily manual punch-downs. Wine was then aged in neutral Bordeaux barrels for 22 months before bottling.
It’s wildly similar to our 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon. If opening right away, decant a few hours. The wine is a little tight out of the gates but showing nice herb and pepper notes - the salty minerality shows up on the back end of the palate as it airs.
LIBRARY WINE/ LIMITED AVAILABILITY: A Cabernet Sauvignon, without question on the nose. A Cabernet true to the Smith Smith story style; cooler and dancing aromatic while having density and layers of texture. Lots of spicy red fruits up front while fresh bramble fruits bounce around the palate which is rounded out by a savory, almost cinnamon-bark spice mouthfiling finish and pretty tannin structure.
Review:
The 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Pickberry Vineyard is the most convincing and complete of these wines from Smith Story. Deep and inky, yet very much medium in body, the 2016 has a lot to offer. Blueberry, menthol, licorice, lavender and spice meld in this supple, racy Cabernet Sauvignon. The balance of fruit, structure and freshness is terrific. This classically rendered Sonoma Cabernet Sauvignon needs bottle age to truly blossom; give it a few years to be at its best. - Vinous 93 Points
The Grade Napa Cabernet Sauvignon Winfield Vineyard is made from Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.
“This wine expresses a focused balancing act of dark, rich black fruit, and a fine tannin structure, illuminated through the core with a laser-like acidity. The wine displays a deep purple-red hue with a cranberry halo. Aromas of cassis, cinnamon, citrus oil, roasted meat, and lilac swell from the glass.
“The palate is marked by a wave of jet-black brambly fruit up front, followed by an exotic spice mid-palate and a long, complex finish that lasts and lasts expressing notes of flowering jasmine, and oolong tea. The silky tannins hold everything together and will certainly allow this wine to evolve in the cellar for at least 7-10 years.” - Thomas River Brown
Review:
The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Winfield Vineyard is an absolutely gorgeous wine that conveys a striking interplay of richness, power and nuance. Silky and restrained for this site, the Winfield offers up a compelling melange of red fruit, iron, cedar, tobacco, rose petal and dried herbs, all in a mid-weight style that is incredibly appealing. The Winfield is a selection taken from Blocks 1, 4 and 5.
-Vinous 94 Points
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:
"The 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Red Willow Vineyard is 100% Red Willow Cabernet Sauvignon that will spend roughly 20 months in close to 100% new French oak. Blackcurrants, smoked herbs, chocolate, and graphite notes all give way to a full-bodied, plump, rich, concentrated effort that's going to be better with short-term cellaring and keep for two decades."
- Jeb Dunnuck (April 2018), 94-96 pts
Buccella Mica Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 90% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Merlot, 2% Malbec.
Mica stitches together fruit from Oakville, Yountville, St Helena, and Coombsville in a way that embellishes the best qualities from each iconic AVA, without losing sight of balance. A generous and concentrated wine with black cherry and blackberry aromas with layers of dark chocolate, tobacco and licorice. The palate is fresh and vibrant with lush and smooth tannins and flavors of dark chocolate, fresh herbs and tobacco.
Castello di Bossi Gran Selezione is made from 100% Sangiovese.
Gran Selezione is the newest quality designation to have been added to the DOCG classification system in Chianti Classico. Gran Selezione takes quality controls a step further than Riserva-- which previously occupied the top tier-- by banning the use of any purchased, or non-estate-grown fruit, in the inclusion of a wine labeled Gran Selezione. This coupled with longer aging requirements (30 months minimum) and minimum levels of alcohol set to 13% designates a band of wines from Chianti Classico producers representative of the appellation's highest quality potential with often limited availability.
Review:
There’s purity to the cherry, strawberry, rose, mineral and herb aromas and flavors in this solidly built red, which shows excellent balance and length. The muscular finish begs for more time for the beautiful fruit to assimilate. Best from 2025 through 2042.
-Wine Spectator 96 Points
A small, inaugural release from Caymus Vineyards, this wine is a California-appellation Cabernet Sauvignon – supple, dark and rich, bearing the signature hallmarks of Caymus. It is sourced from sites throughout the state which feature climatic conditions, soils and topography that are ideally suited to Cabernet. This project stems from excitement over California’s diverse vineyard land, often in lesser-known areas, with the potential to produce exceptional Cabernet. You can watch a video and learn more by scanning the QR code on the back label of this wine.
Caymus has a signature style that is dark in color, with rich fruit and ripe tannins – as approachable in youth as in maturity. Since its founding in 1972, Caymus has become renowned as a consistent leader in the production of Napa Valley Cabernet. Grapes for this wine are farmed in a range of Napa’s sub-appellations – from Coombsville to Calistoga – with fruit from the valley floor creating lushness and the hillsides providing backbone. Diversification enables us to make the best possible wine in a given year, featuring layered, lush aromas and flavors, including cocoa, cassis and ripe berries.
Winery Notes:
Each year, we set aside the best barrels of our Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley to produce Special Selection. Distinguished by extremely fine, velvety tannins and enjoyable upon release or with aging. A wine of structure with intense concentration of supple flavors and dark fruits. Special Selection is the only wine in the world honored twice as Wine Spectator magazine’s “Wine of the Year.”
This fresh and vibrant Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is brimming with aromas of blackberry, mulberry, cassis, and violet. On the palate, bright flavors of cranberry, red plum, cherry, and lavender are intertwined with supple tannins, balanced acidity, and a long, smooth finish.
Review:
Seductive oak spices and a plush mouthfeel come with abundant red and black fruits in this full-bodied, appropriately tannic wine that needs time to reach its full potential. Pine and rosemary accents merge nicely with the blackberries and blueberries. Best from 2028–2038.
-Wine Enthusiast 94 Point
DAOU Vineyards Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Petit Verdot.
The 2021 DAOU Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon is emblematic of Paso Robles as a world-class region for Bordeaux-style wines. Intense purple-red hues foreshadow deep aromas of black fruit, pomegranate, tobacco, mocha, and bay leaf. Trailing notes of clove, nutmeg, and vanilla emerge as the wine opens up in the glass. Opulent textures expand across the palate with flavors of red fruit, blueberry, and chocolate-covered raspberry. The overall experience is fresh and rich, concluding with velvety tannins and impressive length.
Review:
The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve is blended with 23% Petit Verdot, made entirely with free-run juice, and it will be matured for 16 months in 50% new French oak. Opaque ruby, it offers pure aromas of cassis, violet, grilled meats, desert sage and bell pepper. The full-bodied palate is powdery, energetic and detailed with a long, layered finish.
-Wine Advocate 94-96 Points
Hall Wines The Kathryn Hall Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 96% Cabernet, 4% Merlot.
The 2017 Kathryn Hall is deep, dark ruby in color and elegantly balanced with layered aromas of concentrated blackberry, freshly turned earth, and a hint of warm, spicy oak. The palate is fruit-forward with underlying notes of rich cocoa and leather. Layers of black fruit, nutmeg, cassis and brooding earthy notes are abundant. Supple, seamless tannin abounds, and the wine finishes with an incredible dark fruit feed-back that lasts several minutes.
Review:
The 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Kathryn Hall is a blend of 95% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Merlot, brought up mostly in new barrels. It’s a killer bottle of wine offering lots of ripe black fruits intermixed with savory herbs, melted chocolate, and tobacco. Medium to full-bodied on the palate, it shows the lush, round, velvety style of the 2019 vintage and is already impossible to resist. It’s going to evolve for 15+ years if well stored.
-Jeb Dunnuck 95 Points
The 2017 was a very different year to 2016 in terms of the viticultural conditions and it was interesting to watch the progression of the wine and scrutinize its quality as it developed over its first two winters. Whereas 2016 had a very mild winter and exceptionally hot summer, this was compensated by abundant winter and spring rainfall. Conversely, 2017 was warm and drythroughout, although summer temperatures were closer to average, whichproved to be a very significant factor allowing for complete, balancedripening.
It is rare to see such tremendous depth and intensity in color as this winedisplays. The freshness of the floral aromas is very attractive with adominance of rockrose, a flower that grows wild around the hills of Senhorada Ribeira. On the palate, it is exceptionally full-bodied, rich andpowerful with black fruit coming to the fore. Gorgeous, ripe fruit isbalanced by the fine tannin structure. On the finish, it is typically Dow,austere and somewhat drier than many other ports. The intense fruit flavors linger long on the palate.
Dow’s Vintage Ports are only produced in years of exceptional quality and represent only a very small part of the total company’s production in that year. On average only two or three times every ten years are the weather conditions sufficiently good to allow for the making of Dow’s Vintage Port.
Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, Dow’s Vintage Ports have been landmark wines in virtually every great year, consistently setting the standards amongst all Port houses. Vintage Ports such as the remarkable Dow 1896, the 1927, 1945, 1955, 1963, 1966, 1970, 1980 and the Dow 1994 are all legends in the history of this great wine. These Ports are still magnificent today, even when 50 or over 100 years old. Few wines can claim this quality and this pedigree.
Dow's Vintage Ports are drawn from the companies' finest vineyards; Quinta do Bomfim and Quinta de Senhora da Ribeira. Each property contributes to the Dow’s unique and distinctive style. When young, Dow’s Vintage Ports are purple-black, austere, complex and intensely concentrated, full-bodied and balanced with very fine peppery tannins.
Over the centuries, the Dow winemakers have evolved a style that suits the house’s key vineyards; fermentations are a little longer, resulting in a drier Port Wine that has become the hallmark of Dow’s. Abundant fruit flavours with hints of ripe blackberries, give elegance and poise to Dow’s. The nose is deep and powerful with strong overtones of violets when young, these mature into fine cinnamon and rose-tea aromas with age. The very high percentage of Touriga Franca and Touriga Nacional planted on the vineyards result in the powerful structure and aging potential of Dow’s Vintage Ports
Dow’s Ports avoid an over-rich style and requires a very high degree of skill in wine making and great experience in selecting the finest wines of each year and each vineyard. These wines are aged in seasoned oak casks for some 18 months and are bottled without any filtration or fining whatsoever.
Dow Vintage Ports can be enjoyed when vibrant and young or they can be allowed to age for many years in bottle into a soft and delicate wine of velvet-like elegance.
In the 1920’s, the celebrated Oxford Professor George Saintsbury underlined Dow’s outstanding reputation when he wrote in his famous ‘Notes on a Cellarbook’ (first published in 1920), “There is no shipper’s wine that I have found better than the best of Dow’s 1878 and 1890 especially.”
James Suckling, one of today’s leading authorities on Vintage Port was equally impressed by another legendary wine - the Dow’s 1896 - “The ancient {1896} Port still had an amazing ruby colour with a garnet edge, and it smelled of raisins, black pepper and berries. It was full-bodied, with masses of fruit intertwined with layers of velvety tannins. It was superb.” In 1998, when this wine was 102 years old, he awarded this Port an exceptional 98 points.
Review:
Based on fruit from the predominantly south-facing Quinta do Bomfim in the Cima Corgo and Quinta Senhora da Ribeira in the Douro Superior, with Touriga Nacional and Touriga Franca making up 80% of the blend. This is opaque and closed in but powerfully ripe with underlying pure berry fruit. It's seemingly quite introverted compared to some of its peers at this stage, but it's still full, rich and opulent on the palate. It also shows the latent power of the vintage, made as it is in a slightly drier style (3.4 Baumé), with lovely minty fruit and full, ripe sinewy tannins all the way through the finish. Long and lithe, and very fine.
-Decanter 97 Points
A dense, thickly textured version, dripping with warm salted licorice, tar and açaí paste notes, while plum and blueberry pâte de fruit, chai spice and chocolate elements fill in behind. Lots of brambly grip flows underneath. Shows a very sappy feel on the finish. Best from 2035 through 2055. 5,250 cases made, 1,092 cases imported
-Wine Spectator 96 Points
This is a dry while also floral wine, perfumed and enticing with its juicy acidity. At the same time, the structure is very present, showing power and dark black fruits. The balance is coming together with the rich fruits and tannins melding into one. Drink from 2028. ROGER VOSS
-Wine Enthusiast 96 Points
Deep dark ruby garnet, opaque core, violet reflections, delicate brightening of the edges. Black wildberry jam underlaid with delicate herbs and spices, tobacco nuances, hints of blueberry jam and elderberries, schisty notes. Powerful, full-bodied, sweetness present, carrying tannins, dark nougat in the finish, very good length, an imperious style, built for a long life.
Falstaff 98 Points
The wine offers a touch of pear, spice and dried fruit aromas on the nose, and exotic fruit characters. Minerality emerges from the primary rock soils, followed by an elegant and lively finish.
Chicken and pork dishes, good food companion to many dishes.