One of the great red wine projects in the Napa Valley, Cardinale is an absolutely stunning property located in the Napa floor, in Oakville not far from Robert Mondavi Winery. Cardinale is best known for their red wine, a massive representation of Cabernet, usually with smaller parts of Merlot blended in. Superstar winemaker of Cardinale, Chris Carpenter, is an MBA graduate that gained experience as a harvest enologist at Domaine Carneros Winery, a vineyard intern at Domaine Chandon California, and a research intern at Tenute Antinori, Santa Cristina Estate, in Montefiridolfi, Italy, before coming to Cardinale. This wine has been one of my Napa favorites for many years and the 2013 version was hugely impressive. Their 2013 Cardinale Red Wine (WWB, 95) is a massive monster of a wine that has pretty serious tannins at this juncture. The flavor and aromatic range to this wine is rather intoxicating. Learn more about this special occasion wine at http://www.cardinale.com/ Here is my review of the stunning 2013 Cardinale Red Wine
2013 Cardinale Red Wine- This stunning new release is a blend of 86% Cabernet Sauvignon with 14% Merlot. The wine was aged for 19 months in 100% new French oak and weighs in at 14.5% alcohol. Sourced from 10 Napa Valley vineyards, the wine has highly perfumed aromatics of creme de cassis, tar, mocha and black cherry. The mid-palate mouthfeel is massive. The flavor range improves with time in the decanter. Creme de cassis, coffee grounds, black cherry and Hoisin sauce flavors show beautifully alongside moderate tannins. This is fleshy, intense and downright gorgeous wine. The 2013 Cardinale really needs another year to settle in the bottle. If enjoying young, give this beautiful wine at least a three hour decant. Drink 2018-2035- 95