#1 Wine of 2023 at Wine Country Connection
ARKENSTONE VINEYARDS
‘NVD’ CABERNET SAUVIGNON
NAPA VALLEY 2018
Arkenstone Vineyards’ 2018 NVD Cabernet Sauvignon is powerful, captivating, and enthralling, deserving the #1 spot on our Wine Country Connection list of the Top 10 Wines of 2023 without the slightest reservation. Nearly perfect, it takes a lot to stand out amongst the thousands of wines tasted this year; however, Arkenstone’s winemaker Sam Kaplan and his team makes it look easy from their remarkable vineyard atop Howell Mountain.
If you enjoy the highest quality Cabernet Sauvignons that Napa Valley has to offer and want to find one still priced under $100, this is it.
The Arkenstone Estate Vineyard at 1400 feet on Howell Mountain consists of 13 acres of vines divided into 22 separate vineyard blocks, providing winemaker Sam Kaplan with the necessary components for crafting magnificent high-elevation Cabernet Sauvignon that competes with the best in the Valley.
Sam’s winemaking philosophy focuses on elegance and balance, utilizing hands-on organic farming, limited yields, and harvesting at uniform ripeness, resulting in memorable and cellar-worthy wines.
The NVD is the newest addition to the winery’s production from the steep slopes of the volcanic soils in the Vaca range, providing a supreme balance between the concentrated mountain fruit and minerality.
This 100% Cabernet Sauvignon is an excellent representation of the superior quality that put Napa on the international wine map, and the 2018 vintage is showing brilliantly.
ARKENSTONE VINEYARDS
‘NVD’ CABERNET SAUVIGNON
NAPA VALLEY 2018
$95.00
Tasting Notes: “One of winemaker Sam Kaplan’s finest showings from a lineup of 15 wines across his consulting clients, which include Vida Valiente, Memento Mori, Vangone and Maxem, his own label. This 100% Cabernet is a blend of grapes from Pritchard Hill, Howell Mountain and Calistoga. Aged 22 months in 75% new French oak it delivers heady aromas of cinnamon-dusted black cherry and ripe blueberry, an intriguing herbal note and ground espresso. The structured palate is broad and plush with red boysenberries, savoury black olives, leather and a refreshing herbal note. It glides to a chocolate finish, supported by fine-grained, sappy tannins. Drinking Window 2021 – 2040.” 98 Points | Jonathan Cristaldi | Decanter.com
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