The 7 Best Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignons to Drink Right Now
Enjoy top bottles of the king of red grapes.
By MIKE DESIMONE AND JEFF JENSSEN | Robb Report |
We are honored to have three of our member wineries included in the latest article shared by the Robb Report!
Raymond 2019 Generations Cabernet Sauvignon
The Raymond family founded its eponymous vinyards and established their 90-acre Rutherford estate in 1970. Today the estate is owned by Jean-Charles Boisset and consists of 300 acres in Rutherford, Jameson Canyon, and St. Helena. This beautiful wine is made from a blend of fruit grown in Oakville, Rutherford, St. Helena, and Yountville. It has aromas of black olive tapenade, black cherry, cassis, and espresso bean with silky soft tannins and flavors of pipe tobacco, black raspberry, black plum, and bright red cherry.
Pellet Estate 2019 Pellet Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon
Winemaker Tom Rinaldi cut his teeth at Freemark Abbey then became the founding winemaker at Duckhorn Vineyards. He currently consults for other wineries but enjoys making wine from the Pellet Vineyard, which is known for its alluvial gravel and rocky loam soils. After the 2019 harvest, the grapes were cold soaked then gently pressed and transferred to French oak barrels. They were allowed to undergo malolactic fermentation and additional aging in barrel then two years of bottle aging before release. Deep ruby in the glass, this enticing Cabernet Sauvignon has exuberant aromas of blackberry, red raspberry, cedar wood, dark chocolate, and a touch of bramble. It is crisp, clean, and elegant with well-integrated acidity. Well-polished tannins form a sheath around flavors of blackberry preserves, pomegranate, cranberry, red plum, and milk chocolate with just a touch of rose petal and fennel pollen in the juicy finish. Drink this now and over the next 15 years.
AXR 2021 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
AXR is a totally geeked-out name for a winery based on the Aramond x Rupestris vine rootstock that was planted in Napa’s first vineyards. The owners and winemaking team chose to pay homage to tradition while utilizing innovative modern techniques in the cellar to craft well-made wines from grapes grown in Napa Valley’s diverse soils. The consulting winemaker is Jean Hoefliger, who makes naturally fermented wines in small, handcrafted lots. The 2021 AXR Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon has aromas of cigar box, cinnamon, and ripe black fruits with pleasantly grippy tannins and flavors of sweet plum, pencil lead, black raspberry, and black cherry.
Author: Appellation Winery
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