The grapes for this Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon come from a selection of Cakebread Cellars Estate ranches and superior family-owned vineyards located throughout the valley’s finest Cabernet Sauvignon appellations. Long-term relationships with growers ensure an annual supply of top-quality fruit from diverse sites. This allows the crafting of a stylistically consistent and complex Cabernet marrying the lush black fruit and sturdy tannins typical of the valley’s warmer northern districts with the bright fruit and acidity characteristic of its cooler southern climates. Each individual lot of fruit is hand-harvested at night and cold‐soaked for two days prior to fermentation to foster early color, flavor and tannin extraction. The separate lots are then fermented and barrel aged before blending, with tank size, yeast strain, fermentation temperature and barrel type specifically tailored to the fruit character of each lot. Component wines age six months in French oak barrels before blending and the final blend spends another 12 months in barrel before bottling.
Pretty aromas of ripe boysenberry, dark cherry and cassis, coupled with scents of sweet oak and herbal spice, introduce plush, deeply concentrated, black fruit flavors bolstered by bright acidity and well-structured tannins. This classic Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon boasts a long, lovely finish featuring savory fruit, spice and mineral tones. Delicious now, it will age gracefully in bottle for another 7-10 years.