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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Drinking window: Drink between 2029 and 2047 (based on 389 user opinions) |
| Community Tasting History |
| By Antonio Galloni
Vinous, Napa Valley: The Frantic 2020s & Stunning 2021s (Feb 2023) (2/1/2023)
(Abreu Madrona Ranch Napa Red) Subscribe to see review text. |
NOTE: Scores and reviews are the property of Vinous. (manage subscription channels) |
| Abreu Producer website
Abreu Vineyards is of famed vineyard manager David Abreu. Mr. Abreu’s farming skills are in extremely high demand, and he oversees many of the Napa Valley’s most prestigious vineyard properties.
Region: Napa Valley
Sub Region: St Helena
David Abreu and his winemaker, Brad Grimes produce four single vineyard red wines under Abreu Vineyards company. The labels are; Madrona Ranch, Cappella, Thorevilos, and Las Posadas. There is a fifth wine which is a blend of all four properties called, Rothwell Hyde. Wines are available for purchase though their direct mailing list only.
This is a highly sought after label that is owned by vineyard manager-extraordinaire David Abreu, also known as, “the grower to the stars.” He has farmed for many illustrious estates including current and past clients such as; Colgin, Staglin, Bryant, Kenzo, Sloan, Marciano, Harlan Estate, and Screaming Eagle.
David Abreu, a third-generation rancher from St. Helena, founded Abreu Vineyards in 1980 after working briefly at Caymus Vineyards. That year he formed David Abreu Vineyard Management, working with pioneering winemaker Richard Forman to manage ranching operations at Inglenook Winery.
Abreu and Forman became friends and traveled frequently to Bordeaux, where they observed French winemaking operations. They brought back French rootstock, trellis designs, and Bordelais planting and farming techniques.[1]
Abreu's fame spread as more wineries hired David Abreu Vineyard Management company to plant and manage ranching operations. By 1999 he was considered the premier viticulturist for premium grapes in Napa Valley.[2] Abreu's company has raised grapes for some of the most respected wineries in Napa and Sonoma Valleys including Blankiet Estate, Acacia Vineyard, Staglin Family Vineyards, Jones Family Vineyards, Bressler Vineyards, Colgin Cellars, Pahlmeyer Vineyard, Sloan Estate, Bryant Family Vineyard, Fisher Vineyards, Oakford Vineyards, Araujo Estate Wines, Grace Family Vineyard, Viader Vineyards, and Harlan estate, among others.
In 1998 eminent wine critic Robert M. Parker, Jr. included Abreu in his list of the "most influential wine personalities of the last 20 years."[3] In 2006 Abreu was hired to replant the Screaming Eagle Winery vineyards.[4]
The wines
Abreu Vineyards concentrates exclusively on estate-grown cabernet sauvignon blends. Robert Parker gave the 1997 Madrona Ranch cabernet perfect 100-point score, one of only 140 wines in the world to receive the honor.[5] In the "Judgment of Sauternes," in October, 2006 the 1997 cabernet was judged the #1 wine in the world by the Grand Jury Européen.[6]
In the late 1990s Abreu and Forman jointly purchased and planted the 20-acre Thorevilos Vineyard. They released Abreu's first cabernet from that vineyard in 2000.[7]
Distribution is extremely limited, although a number of online wine sellers do advertise Abreu wines at $100 to $600 or more per bottle. Production was 500 cases in 1999.
References
^ Forman (2000). Launching Bordeaux-Style Wines in the Napa Valley:. University of California, Berkeley, Regional Oral History Office, pp.106-109.
^ Forman, 2000, p. 37
^ Parker, Robert. "The most influential wine personalities of the last 20 years", The Wine Advocate, December 23, 1998.
^ Murphy, Linda. "Worth its weight in gold? Why some people happily pay $500 for a bottle of wine", San Francisco Chronicle, August 3, 2006.
^ Robert Parker's 100 Point Wines. Wine-Searcher (May, 2005). Retrieved on January 27, 2007.
^ Anson, Jane. "California in pole position yet again", Decanter.com, October 24, 2006. Retrieved on January 27, 2007.
^ Foreman, 2000, pp. 124-125
Red Bordeaux BlendRed Bordeaux is generally made from a blend of grapes. Permitted grapes are Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Malbec and rarely Carménère.Today Carménère is rarely used, with Château Clerc Milon, a fifth growth Bordeaux, being one of the few to still retain Carménère vines. As of July 2019, Bordeaux wineries authorized the use of four new red grapes to combat temperature increases in Bordeaux. These newly approved grapes are Marselan, Touriga Nacional, Castets, and Arinarnoa.
Wineries all over the world aspire to making wines in a Bordeaux style. In 1988, a group of American vintners formed The Meritage Association to identify wines made in this way. Although most Meritage wines come from California, there are members of the Meritage Association in 18 states and five other countries, including Argentina, Australia, Canada, Israel, and Mexico.USAAmerican wine has been produced since the 1500s, with the first widespread production beginning in New Mexico in 1628. Today, wine production is undertaken in all fifty states, with California producing 84% of all U.S. wine. The continent of North America is home to several native species of grape, including Vitis labrusca, Vitis riparia, Vitis rotundifolia, and Vitis vulpina, but the wine-making industry is based almost entirely on the cultivation of the European Vitis vinifera, which was introduced by European settlers. With more than 1,100,000 acres (4,500 km2) under vine, the United States is the fourth-largest wine producing country in the world, after Italy, Spain, and France.California2021 vintage: "Unlike almost all other areas of the state, the Russian River Valley had higher than normal crops in 2021, which has made for a wine of greater generosity and fruit forwardness than some of its stablemates." - Morgan Twain-Peterson Napa Valley Napa Valley Wineries and Wine (Napa Valley Vintners)Napa ValleySt. Helena |
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