2016 Red Cap Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon (1 X 750 ML)

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The Davies family, proprietors of Schramsberg Vineyards and Davies Vineyards in Napa Valley, presents its fourth bottling of the Red Cap Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon from the Howell Mountain District. Building upon its experience with its home property on Diamond Mountain in the valleys western Mayacamas Range, this bottling represents the Davies teams effort with Cabernet Sauvignon from the valleys eastern Vaca Range. Second-generation Vintner Hugh Davies, Director of Winemaking Sean Thompson and Consultant Celia Welch have collaborated well together since 2008 in crafting Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignons, and they are very proud to present this unique vineyard-designate bottling from the 2016 vintage.

The Red Cap Vineyard is located near the summit of Howell Mountain at an elevation of 1,900 feet. On this location, the Aiken loam and red rocky volcanic soils provide great root support and drainage, growing grapes which contain a round, balanced structure. The berries are also much smaller on the mountain side, providing higher skin to juice ratio, deepening the color of the wine while increasing tannins. Red Caps position above the fog line has a broad temperature range throughout the day. When compared to the valley floor, evening temperatures are warmer and daytime temperatures are cooler which supports greater acid retention within the grapes. This combination of soil and environment leads to an extraordinary site for growing delicious Cabernet Sauvignon.

The 2016 vintage was a near-perfect growing season with ideal weather conditions throughout. Thanks to a relatively steady and mild July/August, followed by a series of warm days at the end of the growing season, vineyards were able to progress to perfect ripeness for the light yields that were present.

Tasting notes

This Cabernet Sauvignon exhibits aromas of red cherry, raspberry, mountain sage and floral notes combined with licorice and vanilla. Flavors of dense cherry and cranberry mingle with cinnamon, dark chocolate and espresso, seamlessly tied together with integrated tannins.- Winemakers Sean Thompson, Celia Welch and Hugh Davies

Reviews

94 Points
Quite bold and deeply ripe cassis is framed in hazelnut and espresso aromas, leading to a palate that has a smooth array of fine-grained tannins. Strong yet elegant, mountain-country cabernet.- James Suckling (November 2018)
94 Points
The 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Red Cap Vineyard is the most distinctive of the four wines in the Davies Vineyards range. Unctuous and powerful, with terrific balance, the 2016 offers a super-intriguing interplay of rich fruit and expressive aromatics, all framed by the swaths of tannin and overall structure that make Howell Mountain wines so distinctive.- Antonio Galloni - Vinous (December 2018)
92 Points
The star of the very attractive Davies contingent in 2016, this wonderfully rich and beautifully composed bottling from Howell Mountain immediately impresses with an expansive, very deep and marvelously layered nose wherein incisive blackcurrant fruit is joined by lovely, wholly complementary, sweet oak, and it does not disappoint on the palate. It is a fairly big wine, but it exhibits great poise throughout as well as lots of youthful energy, and, while already polished, it will only become more so with age and is a most collectable Cabernet that is guaranteed to grow well beyond its tenth anniversary.- Connoisseurs' Guide to California Wine (August 2019)

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