1999 Profile
Varietals
59% Cabernet Sauvignon
35% Merlot
4% Petit Verdot
2% Cabernet Franc
Appellation
Napa Valley
Alcohol
14.5% by volume
Flavor Profile
This is our finest Bordeaux varietal bottling from the fabulous 1999 vintage, a year I prefer over the much praised 1997. The 1999s are quite similar in depth and intensity to the 1997s while being a little more voluptuous and silky in the finish. This wine was aged in mostly new French oak chateau barrels and was bottled unfiltered. A blend of our best lots of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc, it is opulently structured and very dark.
- Vineyard Notes
Merryvale Estate, Beckstoffer –Vineyard Georges III and Vineyard VI, Slawson, Bayview-Zinfandel Lane, Showket, Thorevilos, Caldwell.
- From Wine Spectator: "Excellent balance and depth of flavor...
… to this Cabernet blend, with mocha-laced oak wrapped around ripe currant and blackberry fruit. It’s seamless, and reveals extra flavor dimensions and elements of finesse that draw you back for another sip.” —James Laube [93 POINTS]
- From Wine & Spirits: "Dark up front, this brightens to...
… a lasting red fruit flavor. The tenser, initial scents of blueberry and blackberry turn toward red currant as the flavors linger. The texture is pillowy, the blend softened by a significant merlot component, pumped up by the rich warmth of the alcohol, pushing the plump red fruit to last. Oriented toward fruit all the way through, this should age with grace.” —Joshua Greene [91 POINTS]
- From Wine Enthusiast: "A blend of four varieties...
… dominated by Cabernet, grown in seven vineyards, this represents current tastes in Napa. It’s extremely rich in ripe blackberry and cassis flavors, made up with richly smoked oak. The tannins are ultrasoft, so are the acids.” —Steve Heimoff [90 POINTS]
- From Connoisseurs' Guide to California Wine: "Leaning to loam and smoke...
… and dusty spice in its ripe and nicely oaked aromas, this well-mannered youngster is at once both fairly forward and moderately complex in flavor, and its layered impressions of currants, cream and loamy earth are sustained through to a lengthy, nominally tannic finish. If balanced and somewhat polished, it is deceptively solid and will age.” —Charles Olken & Stephen Eliot [90 POINTS & ONE PUFF]