CHATEAU DE VIE
CABERNET SAUVIGNON
2013 CALISTOGA
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“Blended of 76% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Petit Verdot, 9% Merlot and 4% Cabernet Franc, the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Spring Mountain District is deep purple-black in color and offers up baked blackberries, crème de cassis and fruitcake scents with hints of spice box and tobacco. Medium to full-bodied, firm, chewy and with a lively line, it delivers uncomplicated baked berries flavors and an herbal lift on the finish.”91 Points
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“The 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon (Spring Mountain District) packs quite a bit of punch, yet is also incredibly polished and sophisticated. Soft curves and silky tannins push forward a gorgeous core of dark red and purplish berry fruit, with pretty floral and spice overtones that develop over time. Open-knit and racy in the glass, the 2016 will drink well with minimal cellaring. This is an especially accessible young Spring Mountain Cabernet.” 92 Points
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VINE CLIFF
2013 CABERNET SAUVIGNON
ORIGINAL BLEND 1871
OAKVILLE, NAPA VALLEY
Retails at: $80/btl
Your Price: $75/btl
From Wine Enthusiast: “Leather, tobacco and mocha combine effortlessly in this medium-bodied wine, a juicy, broad expression of the variety that drinks well. Black cherry and currant fruit flavors integrate into the quiet oak.“92 Points
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CABAUD
2014 BENEDICTIONS
CABERNET SAUVIGNON
OAKVILLE, NAPA VALLEY
Retails at: $150/btl
Your Price: Insider Club Members Only
Click Here to Join Our (Free) Insider’s Club & Unlock Special Offers Tasting Notes: “A beautifully deep ruby color immediately captures your imagination of what is about to unfold… A quick swirl and sniff reveals a nose of red currants, black plum skin, wet stone, hints of English rose petals and sweet vanilla oak. Then at first sip, layers of lush red plums, dried blueberries, wild mountain blackberries combine with hints of green tea and tobacco leaf…” 96 Points
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STEPS
BARREL SELECT
2015 PROPRIETARY RED
Your Price: $49.99/btl
Arising from Mountainous Vineyards, including Mount Veeder and Altas Peak, the 2015 is built around a core of nearly 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, heightened with Cabernet Franc and Malbec. Simply stunning to swirl and taste, the 2015 was cave aged for nearly 24 months in high quality oak barrels. Dramatic, thrilling and hedonistic are all excellent descriptors for the 2015StepsReserve and with a total production of only 150 cases, don’t let this one walk on by.
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LAIRD
JILLIAN’S BLEND
2014 NAPA VALLEY
Retails at: $48.00/btl
Your Price: Insider Club Members Only
Click Here to Join Our (Free) Insider’s Club & Unlock Special Offers Click to Order When Napa Valley’s preeminent farming family uses just 3% of their grapes to produce their own wine, they’re able to hand select the absolute best grapes, producing wines of unrivaled quality. We’ve always loved Laird’s Jillian’s Blend, but our affection was further solidified when we tasted the new vintage side-by-side another Napa Cab Blend that we love, which retails at $70/btl. We unanimously agreed that the Laird eclipsed it by a healthy margin.
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From a mountainous area where the bottle prices are generally as steep as the terrain, it’s extremely rare to find a Cabernet Blend that drinks as great as this one. It’s no surprise that Anantaah is one of our most requested wines and that’s about to increase exponentially once you taste the 2014… It’s created in an enchanting style that unwinds with decadent blue fruits, cocoa dusted blackberries, wild plums and complex spices. The winery produces less than 500 cases annually between all of their wines and there’s never enough of this wine to match demand.
Originating from the Madrone Vineyard located at 1,900 feet in elevation, this deep, velvety red possesses a multitude of layers and remarkable balance. Perpetually changing and evolving in the glass, layer after layer of impeccably well-balanced flavors coat your palate in an abundance of dark fruits and sweet, velvety tannins. Aged for nearly two full years in barrels and now with around 2 1/2 years of development in the bottle, this wine is gorgeous right now and has the structure to go another decade.
“Soft and round, with an undeniable Old World-like balance, this wine shows dark chocolate, tobacco and tar notes. Its power derives from its complex texture, imbued with a smoky oak essence and clove and graphite accents.” 93 Points
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“…a beauty of classicism and balance. Dense purple in color, with notes of crème de cassis, blackberry, cedar wood and forest floor, the wine is full-bodied, beautifully concentrated and pure, with moderate tannins and the potential for 20-25 years of upside” 92 Points
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“… pulses with a host of savory and mineral notes that confer notable freshness. Quite representative of the vintage, the Cabernet displays considerable energy and tension, with terrific intensity throughout. Graphite, lavender, mint, smoke and tobacco are all finely knit in a Cabernet that offers quite a bit of potential.” 92-95 Points
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This time of year, we start our tastings with nearly two dozen Chardonnays, and see every style from extremely rich, lushious and buttery offerings, to shimmering, unoaked crisp and minerally, Chablis-like examples. Somewhere in the middle of those very opposite styles you’ll find a perfect balance of concentrated, pristinely focused fruit that perfectly balances the elegant oak and subtle buttery characteristics. When we find one of these, it really stands out in a crowd of countless others. Vine Cliff’s 2017 could be the reference-standard for perfectly balanced, intensely powerful Chardonnay… It is an absolutely pure expression of concentrated fruit with just enough oak and butter characteristics to appeal to anyone that tries it. If you enjoy Chardonnay, trust me on this one. It’s one of the best that I’ve tasted in years.
Vine Cliff has a terrific reputation of quality and consistency and is one of Napa Valley’s historic wineries, being established in 1871. This Chardonnay comes from their twelve-acre Estate vineyard in the heart of the Los Carneros appellation, an area that’s absolutely perfect for producing perfectly ripe, incredibly balanced Chardonnay fruit. The fruit was pressed long and slow in a Champagne style to maximize freshness and you’ll taste it in this brilliant Napa Valley Chardonnay.
VALDEZ
2016 CHARDONNAY
RUSSIAN RIVER VALLEY
Your Price: $35/btl
Winery Notes: “Smooth, full-bodied, and crisp; The 2016 chardonnay fills the palate with juicy citrus fruits, honey, and hints of vanilla. The 2016 vintage is slightly brighter than the 2015 with a touch more acidity that presents a nice freshness in the wine…“
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MARTINELLI
2016 CHARDONNAY
BELLA VIGNA
Retails at: $45.00/btl
Your Price: Insider Club Members Only
Click Here to Join Our (Free) Insider’s Club & Unlock Special Offers Click to Order The core of Martinelli’s 2016 Bela Vigna Chardonnay
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We’re always looking for the best values in Napa Cabernet, and one of the things that we pay critical attention to are Estate wines hewn within a close proximity to other revered vineyards. Kuleto Estate is located just across Sage Canyon Road from Chappellet, Continuum and Gandona and their Estate Cabernet is an uncanny value at $60. At this price, it’s honestly not even fair… The vineyard is remarkably diverse with vines planted along ridges and steep hillsides. The soils, elevations and sub-climates are so complex that they delineated the property into more than 100 distinct micro-blocks. Their 2013 Estate Cabernet is made up of 24 different micro-blocks. Our panel was so taken by the quality that we bought every bottle that the distributor had available.
Composed by seasoned winemaker Dave Lattin, and with a focused richness and elaborate, penetrating flavors, this wine has more than enough structure to age for many years to come. Pressed in the winery’s state-of-the-art gravity-flow winery, their Estate Cabernet spends 20 months in oak barrels before bottling. If you love big, full bodied Napa Cabernet Sauvignon without the premium price tag that normally comes with them… This one’s definitely for you.