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Wine Recommendation
Robert Craig Winery
2004 Cabernet Sauvignon(Mount Veeder ~ Napa Valley)
Winemaker Robert Craig produces wine from hillside grapes on Howell Mountain and Mount Veeder. The grapes for this wine come from the latter region at elevations of up to 1,800 feet. The contours of the 26-acre site offer typical Mount Veeder terrain with multiple hillside exposures and changes in elevation of up to 400 feet. The well-drained sandstone and blue slate soils provide for growing small berries, with yields from one to three tons.
Typical of the AVA, this wine is very dark in color with lots of chocolate-peppermint nuances. The blackberry fruit is sweet and bright and the wine is balanced with good acidity. It’s a bit astringent at this point, attesting to its youth. So, hold it for a couple of years and drink it over the ensuing 15.
The listed alcohol is high at 14.9 percent, but because of the concentration of the fruit, that aspect is mitigated. The wine was aged for 20 months in French wood, 75 percent of which was new, with the rest having seen two harvests. There were 1,665 cases made.
Reviewed February 21, 2008 by Alan Goldfarb.
Other reviewed wines from Robert Craig Winery
The Wine
Winery: Robert Craig Winery |
The Reviewer
Alan Goldfarb
Alan Goldfarb has been writing about and reviewing wine for 17 years. His reviews have been published in the St. Helena Star, San Jose Mercury, San Francisco Examiner, Decanter, and Wine Enthusiast, among others. Not once has he used a point system, star system, or an iconic symbol to quantify a wine. What counts in Mr. Goldfarb’s criteria when judging a wine is: how it tastes in the glass; is it well-constructed; its food compatibility; and presence of redeeming regional attributes. |