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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 93 pts. and median of 93 pts. in 8 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by Jth3 on 4/2/2023 & rated 95 points: Absolutely delicious! Deep purple with rich nose and vibrant red cabernet fruit. Tannins have largely dissipated. Very long finish. Drinking beautifully now and even more impressive than it was in 2019. I suspect it is near its peak. Consume over the next 5 years. Fortunate to own this true hidden gem! (511 views) | | | Tasted by Terramare on 10/13/2021 & rated 94 points: Medium tannins, definitely should have decanted. Very nice wine, went very well with our pasta dinner. The 2022 end date for the community is still very off. This wine has at least 10 more good years ahead, so suggested 2032. (869 views) | | | Tasted by KeithSurg on 8/14/2020 & rated 93 points: Nice mature Napa cab. Great balance, nice structure. Drinking beautifully now. (1280 views) | | | Tasted by Charlie.Gail on 8/9/2020 & rated 90 points: A very nice wine, but lacking a little in depth...thinking that it may be a little past prime drinking time. (1172 views) | | | Tasted by daveste on 4/12/2019 & rated 93 points: Decanted, benefits from some air. Superb with prime rib and good friends. (1611 views) |
| A. Rafanelli Producer website2010 A. Rafanelli Cabernet Sauvignon Terrace SelectWinemaker's Notes: The best vines are hand selected each year from the terraced hillside vineyard just south of the winery. The grapes are hand picked, carefully sorted, and then fermented for an extended period of time in a small open top tank with manual punch downs every four hours. After fermentation and a light press, the wine is placed in new French oak barrels for three years.
With a cool foggy summer and late start to the harvest, the fruit was allowed to slowly ripen, extending the hang time to give expressive flavors and intense aromas through a slow cool fermentation. Experience complete harmony with extra attention and perfect extraction of balanced tannins and fruit. This is an enticing wine that is so well structured and yet so very graceful. Inviting you to imbibe now, but cellaring will allow the dark cherry, cassis, and savory plum characteristics come alive, as the hints of mocha and vanilla glide together with toasted oak accents. Let your patience be rewarded in a beautiful way.
Harvest Dates: October 19th
Barrel Aging: 36 months in New French Oak
Bottling Date: July 2013
Release Date: May 2015
Case Production: 250Cabernet SauvignonCabernet Sauvignon is probably the most famous red wine grape variety on Earth. It is rivaled in this regard only by its Bordeaux stablemate Merlot, and its opposite number in Burgundy, Pinot Noir. From its origins in Bordeaux, Cabernet has successfully spread to almost every winegrowing country in the world. It is now the key grape variety in many first-rate New World wine regions, most notably Napa Valley, Coonawarra and Maipo Valley. Wherever they come from, Cabernet Sauvignon wines always seem to demonstrate a handful of common character traits: deep color, good tannin structure, moderate acidity and aromas of blackcurrant, tomato leaf, dark spices and cedarwood.
Used as frequently in blends as in varietal wines, Cabernet Sauvignon has a large number of common blending partners. Apart from the obvious Merlot and Cabernet Franc, the most prevalent of these are Malbec, Petit Verdot and Carmenere (the ingredients of a classic Bordeaux Blend), Shiraz (in Australia's favorite blend) and in Spain and South America, a Cabernet – Tempranillo blend is now commonplace. Even the bold Tannat-based wines of Madiran are now generally softened with Cabernet SauvignonUSAAmerican 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 Sonoma CountyMendocino CountyDry Creek Valley Winegrowers of Dry Creek Valley | Dry Creek Valley Association | Appellation America | San Francisco Chronicle Article |
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