Chappellet Signature Cabernet Sauvignon 2016

Professional Ratings

• 96 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
  The 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Signature has a very deep garnet-purple color and opens with wonderfully expressive notes of warm cassis, baked plums, black raspberries and kirsch with suggestions of underbrush, lilacs and chocolate box. Medium to full-bodied, the palate reveals layers of red and black berries with stunning freshness and an approachable, grainy texture, finishing long and earthy.
• 94 Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
  COMMENTARY: One of the most exciting wines I first sold as a specialty wine retailer was the 1971 Chappellet Cabernet Sauvignon—I sold this wine in the mid-1970s at the Ashbury Market in San Francisco. This offering broadened my horizons and proved to be an important stepping stone and took me on a journey into discovering some of California's new and emerging wineries at that time (Caymus, Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, Fetzer Vineyards, Kenwood Vineyards, and many more). The 2016 Chappellet Signature Cabernet is again one of the top players in the Napa Valley. TASTING NOTES: This wine exhibits the pinnacle of power and balance. Its aromas and flavors of luscious black fruit, subtle oak accents, and savory spices make it a perfect pair mate with a juicy ribeye and a dab of a triple crème blue-veined cheese. Tasting this wine recalls the best moments of my early retailing days. (Tasted: October 23, 2018, San Francisco, CA)
• 94 Wine & Spirits

  This savory cabernet grows on Pritchard Hill, where Donn Chappellet settled in 1967. These volcanic hills east of St. Helena provided Phillip Corallo-Titus with the raw material for a refined and lilting 2016. He didn’t overextract the wine, so the tannic detail lasts with umami notes of freshly dug earth, black mushrooms and blueberry skins. The fruit is integrated, with dark blueberry density and brighter purple notes feeling refined, putting the pretty side of cabernet on view—a rarity among the muscle cabs of Napa Valley.

• 92 Wine Enthusiast

  This is made entirely from mountain fruit along the eastern hills of the Napa Valley, including the producer’s estate. It is blended with 12% Petit Verdot and 9% Malbec. Smoky oak, clove and tobacco accent red fruit and a savory bottom line of cedar and sage. It’s rich but well behaved.