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:
Dark and focused aromas of cherry, clove and caramel meet with creamy milk chocolate and mahogany on the layered nose of this bottling. Showing a deft mastery of tannins, which is the Daou hallmark, the palate is silky and yet structured, offering rich fruit and lightly bitter walnut flavors.
-Wine Enthusiast 95 Points
Pahlmeyer Jayson Red Napa Valley is made from 51% Merlot, 27% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Malbec, 7% Petit Verdot, 4% Cabernet Franc.
Voluptuousness meets vibrance in this classic Bordeaux-inspired blend. Ripe Merlot-dominant aromas of juicy macerated raspberry unfurl with hints of pencil lead, clove, cedar, and fresh sage. The compact fruit core, flanked by fine, polished tannin, surges open on a full, silky palate, giving way to complex underpinnings of earth and spice. A beam of bright acidity keeps the fruit fresh and focused through a soft, lingering finish of dusty plum and cocoa.
It’s best to serve this rich, layered wine at a temperature between 60°F and 65°F. Open and opulent in its youth, this wine is ready to match with a range of flavorful summer dishes such as Carolina-style pulled pork, bánh mì sandwiches, or bacon cheddar burgers.
Review:
This is a very polished wine in 2022, well-built with neatly knit tannins that form a solid foundation for the dark currant and blackberry fruit that floods the mid-palate. Good depth of concentration and driving energy create a sense of tension and vibrancy. Indeed not a shy wine, yet more approachable, with tannins almost melting away on the finish—very characteristic of the warm vintage. Grape sources include William Hill and Broken Rock in Napa, Stagecoach, Waters, and Round Pond in Rutherford, along with Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon from the iconic Monte Rosso Vineyard in Sonoma. Grapes are sorted by hand, fermented in stainless steel with a small percentage in oak tanks, and then aged for 15 months in 80% new French oak. (JC)
-Decanter 94 Points