Bruce Schoenfeld: Many Napa Valley wines of this era are criticized, in retrospect, for being imitation Bordeaux. Not this one. The mint on the nose and cola on the palate mark it as unmistakably New World. The robust tannins are distracting, as disproportionate as a bulky frame around a watercolor. Yet there’s a nice freshness in the wine and a leap in concentration from the older vintages that gives it strong appeal more than three decades on. I credit two percentages: 13.8, which is the amount of bright, red-fruited Cabernet Franc in the blend, and 12.2, extremely low alcohol for Napa even in the early 1980s.
Details
Wine expert | Bruce Schoenfeld |
Tastings year | 2016 |
Region | California |
Appellation | AVA |