WINEMAKER'S NOTES:
The Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is a blend of Dunn's Howell Mountain fruit and a small quantity of valley floor fruit that they purchase. This valley floor fruit contributes to the wine’s earlier approachability and softer tannic structure.
TASTING NOTES:
The wine presents a deep ruby colour with a magenta rim. They produce just under 3,000 cases of this Napa Valley-designated Cabernet Sauvignon, constituting about 60% of their total production. The blend is 77% Cabernet Sauvignon and 23% Cabernet Franc aged in 72% new French oak barrels for up to 32 months. This young, restrained wine exudes both power and elegance. Aromas of spicy cedarwood dominate, supported by a vibrant core of crunchy red berries, firm, taut tannins, and delicate floral hints of red rose petals. There's an enticing confected note weaving through the cedarwood character. Overall, this is a wine built to age and tasted with Mike Dunn, who said that the wine was opened a couple of hours before tasting and double-decanted. I’d recommend holding off until at least 2028 before popping corks. The fruit sources are 45% Oak Knoll, 37% Howell Mountain, and 12% Napa Valley, with 6% coming from Yountville AVAs.
- Decanter, 95 pts.
Bright and perfumed aromas of blackcurrants, blueberry bush, pencil shavings and dried herbs. The palate is full-bodied with seamlessly integrated tannins and bright acidity, giving notes of red currants, mocha and tobacco leaves. Very refined and pure, with a touch of class. It will age gracefully.
- James Suckling, 95 pts.
Dunn’s 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa Valley) hits the palate with waves of inky dark fruit, mocha, leather and spice. This is an especially overt style for Dunn. Then again, the Napa Valley Cabernet is designed to offer more early approachability than the top wines here. All this needs is a bit of time in bottle for the French oak to integrate further. Readers will find a dense, almost shockingly rich wine from Randy and Mike Dunn. Hints of graphite, sage, menthol and licorice kick on the long, beautifully persistent finish. A dollop of Cabernet Franc adds aromatic presence, something Randy Dunn quietly did in this wine in the past. The Napa Valley Cabernet is mostly from the estate, with a bit of purchased fruit from sites in Yountville and Oakville.
- Vinous, 93 pts.
