I fondly remember several visits to Cardinale, looking out across the valley and letting the sunshine soak in. One of the iconic Napa wines, Cardinale is not only known for its incredible red blend but it is truly one of the most beautiful spots to taste wine in the entire Napa Valley. Cardinale is located in the Napa floor, in Oakville not far from Robert Mondavi Winery. It is pretty common for them to have several vintages available which provides such a fun contrast to go back and forth between these gorgeous wines. The Cardinale Red Wine is a Cabernet wine with smaller parts of Merlot blended in. At the helm is superstar winemaker, Chris Carpenter, is an MBA graduate who has previously worked for Domaine Carneros, Domaine Chandon California, as well as Tenute Antinori, Santa Cristina Estate, in Montefiridolfi, Italy, before coming to Cardinale. Chris is humble when talking about his wines. He is truly one of the great talents of Napa.
A few years back I took in an epic vertical tasting of Cardinale at the Mandarin Oriental hotel. Chris talked about the aging potential of these wines, that are rich but highly structured with a great combination of power and finesse. The new release is simply magical and has so much aging potential. The 2017 Cardinale Red Wine (OB, 96) is dense and hedonistic now, just really only an infant. I can imagine this will cellar well for twenty five plus years. Learn more about these stunning wines at http://www.cardinale.com/ and here is my tasting note for the gorgeous new 2017 Cardinale Red Wine.
2017 Cardinale Red Wine- The 2017 Cardinale Red Wine is a magnificent effort from this somewhat challenging vintage in the Napa Valley. The wine has 5% Merlot blended in but this wine really does scream top notch Napa Cabernet Sauvignon. Right away the dark currants deftly combine with espresso bean, scorched earth and lovely bell pepper tones on this intense bouquet. The palate is beautifully textured with wonderful length and verve. Layers of creme de violette and exotic spices are woven together with tar, Black Forest Cake and mocha on the palate. Gorgeous to savor at the three year mark, be sure to give this an exceedingly long decant if enjoying in its vibrant youth. Drink 2022-2045- 96