2010 | Colgin Cellars | Cariad

The 2010 Cariad has a dazzling perfumed nose with aromas of licorice, violets and orange blossoms. Dark berry scents combined with cracked peppercorns and a gravelly minerality bring a meaty and inviting quality to this wine.

Reviews:

• Wine Advocate: The 2010 Proprietary Red Cariad reveals great intensity along with abundant notes of unsmoked tobacco leaf interwoven with blueberry, blackberry and cassis fruit, charcoal and coffee bean nuances as well as a Pauillac-like lead pencil shaving character. This blend of 48% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28% Merlot, 10% Petit Verdot and 14% Cabernet Franc is one of the finest wines I tasted over the 12 days I spent tasting in Napa Valley in late August and early September.

• Vinous: The 2010 Red Wine Cariad is incredibly shut down at this stage. Dark raspberries, flowers, mint and tar emerge over time, but the Cariad remains quite a bit tighter and more introspective than the other wines in this lineup. At the same time, there is a level of purity in the fruit that is striking. This is the tightest of the estate's 2010s. Accordingly, it will require a few years to open up. This is the lowest percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon ever used in Cariad.

Producer Information

Colgin Cellars is one of California's so-called "cult" wineries, founded by Ann Colgin in 1992. She produced some of her early vintages from vineyards at the foot of the Howell Mountains in Napa Valley, before purchasing land on the Tychson Hill and hiring famed viticulturalist David Abreu to plant her vineyards. Today Colgin produces wines that are mostly based on Cabernet Sauvignon and regularly score 100-point ratings from Robert Parker. Colgin produces wines from three different areas of St Helena: Tychson Hill Vineyard, Cariad Vineyards and the IX estate vineyards, the latter of which the borders the Colgin winery. The Tychson Hill Vineyards were originally planted in 1881 by the first female vintner in Napa, Josephine Tychson. The original vines were pulled during Prohibition and, in 1997, Colgin replanted the vineyards with a mixture of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. The vines are grown on volcanic soils on the slopes of the Tychson Hill. The Tychson Hill Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon vintages 2002, 2012 and most recently the 2013 have perfect scores from Robert Parker, with the critic comparing the wines to a hypothetical blend of the finest Pauillac and Napa Valley wines. The Cariad Vineyards encompass three main plots – the Madrona Ranch, Howell Mountain and Thorevilos – and are owned and managed by David Abreu. The Cariad Red Wine is produced from a blend of grapes from these three vineyards, usually Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. The IX estate vineyards, also known as the number nine estate, form an eight-hectare (20-acre) plot on a broad slope of the St Helena hill. The vines are spread over both low- and high-altitude plots atop of rich volcanic soils. The IX estate red wine comes from these vines and is a Bordeaux blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. The 2002, 2006, 2007, 2010 and 2013 vintages have been awarded 100-point ratings by Robert Parker, with the remaining vintages all scoring 90 or more. The IX estate Syrah is also made from grapes grown in these estate vineyards. The vines are from cuttings that have their origins in the Northern Rhône, more specifically from the Côte Rotie and Hermitage regions. The wines are all aged in 100-percent new oak, the barrels of which are from Taransaud in the Cognac region of France.

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