Duckhorn Cabernet Sauvignon 750ml

This is a Napa Valley cabernet that does everything right. Renee Ary blends fruit from Duckhorn’s estate with grapes from growers, including 12 percent merlot to point up the luscious texture, aging it for 16 months in French oak barrels (half of them new), without the wine becoming overtly oaky. It’s a wine of elegance and restraint, delicious in its sweet purple-plum intensity, succulent in its earthy tannins. Those mineral tannins retreat into the finish, allowing the savory fruit to move in. Accessible now, this will only improve with a few years in bottle.

Aromas of wet stone, gravel and blackcurrant. Full-bodied with fine, velvety tannins. Juicy, bright and fresh. Lovely dark fruit, with gravel and wet-stone notes adding very nice definition. Chocolate finish.