Cabernet Sauvignon

Wow.  Talk about a Bordeaux styled wine made in Napa, this is it.  Just a beauty.  87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Merlot and 1% Petite Verdot.  Ruby/purple in color, opaque and shimmering bright.  The nose is gorgeous, if young.  Cassis, black cherries, blueberries, smoke, tobacco, earthiness, cedar and spice.  Full bodied.  Firm tannins.  Great energy.  On the palate, this is complex and tightly layered.  Cassis and black cherries with earthiness and smoke.  Long finish.  Delicious.  This is not a huge fruit bomb at all.  Not yet at peak but well on its way.  This has another twenty to thirty

This wine is proof that Paso Robles can make world class Cabernets (in addition to Rhone Varietals).  The Daou brothers second vintage of this wine is very young but easily could be a 100 pointer with some bottle age and development.  As it, it is outstanding right now.  Inky purple in color, ruby at the rim, opaque and bright.  The nose has cassis, chocolate, graphite, cigar tobacco, and cedar.  Great texture.  Firm tannins.  Concentrated.  Nice balance.  On the palate, concentrated cassis with graphite, and chocolate and slight tobacco.  It unwinds in the glass.  Long finish.  If drinking

Basic Bottling.  Purple in color, opaque and bright.  The nose is nice with cassis, leather, slight cedar.  Full bodied.  Medium tannins.  Very concentrated.  On the palate, this is just hitting maturity.  Cassis with some leather notes.  Good energy and balance.  Nice finish.  A classic Napa Cab.  Drink over the next ten to fifteen years.  A nice match with grilled meats or just on its own.  

Great showing for this.  Still young but starting to show development.  Inky purple in color, opaque and bright.  The nose is great with cassis, coffee, baking spices and char.  Full bodied.  Firm tannins.  On the palate, cassis, slight blueberries with spice.  Deep.  Long finish.  No harm drinking now, but this has another twenty years in it.  Great on its own, this will work well with roasted or grilled meats.  

The label on this bottle (bought at auction) was very wrinkled which was quite worrisome.  No need to worry, the wine was stunning.  Purple in color, magenta at the rim, opaque and bright.  The nose is deep with cassis, coffee beans, spice and slight graphite.  Full bodied.  Medium tannins.  On the palate, complex and deep.  Notes of cassis, chocolate and coffee.  Long finish.  This is delicious.  Great on its own, at age 11, this is starting to show a nice complexity that will work with food.  Beef stroganoff would be interesting.  

This was my second time trying this and confirmed that this is a very nice Cabernet and had improved a bit with further cellaring.  It may yet have even more upside.  Purple in color, ruby at the rim, opaque and bright.  The nose is nice with cassis, and black cherries but also a bit of coffee beans and char.  No noticeable green notes this time.  Full bodied.  Medium to full tannins.  On the palate, still of course primary, but there is plenty of depth there.  Also, plenty of fruit.  Any reductiveness seems to have blown off.  Nice finish.  This is very enjoyable.  It drinks nicely on its

This continues to be the best value in the Bevan catalog.  Perhaps a little behind the single vineyard wines in quality.  Perhaps not.  It is expensive but half the price of those.  Purple in color, opaque and bright.  The nose is great with cassis, cedar, baking spices and slight dark chocolate.  Full bodied.  Firm tannins.  This is obviously young, so decant for a few hours if drinking now.  On the palate, it is lush with loads of cassis, some chocolate and spices.  Deep.  Long finish.  Delicious.  This is probably better on its own right now, but that will change as it ages.  Drink over

More mature than past vintages, this has nice tight tannins and acidity to make the fruit work well for aging long-term. The dusty fruit of blackberry, black cherry, blueberry and huckleberry gives way to light vanilla from the oak influence and slight cocoa notes. The oak certainly plays a major influence here, but it does not detract from the beautiful fruit that has been harvested for this wine. Though this wine has a lot of production, the quality is still amazing for the number of cases it produces That takes control, and focus by the winemaking team at Duckhorn.

Frank Family seems to be one of those wines that people like because the owners are such good people and the wines are good as well.  While I haven't had the pleasure of meeting the owners, I do agree, the wines are very good.  A blend of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot, 4% Cabernet Franc.  Purple in color, mostly opaque and bright.  The nose has cassis, cedar and spice.  Full bodied.  Tannins are mostly, not completely, resolved.  On the palate cassis, slight spice and a hint of char.  Nice finish.  An enjoyable, easy to drink wine with some stuffing.  Good finish.  Dri

I get it, many people love these wines while a smaller amount love to bash them.  Personally, I enjoy them for what they are.  I like to open them when I am not looking to sit in the leather char in my imaginary study and contemplate wines place in society over the centuries.  This is a great wine to open with neighbors who may or may not be wine geeks, but do enjoy a big red.  It is a blend of 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc, 2% Malbec, and 2% Petit Verdot.