Explosive aromatics showing dark red fruits and layers of tobacco, graphite, and baking spices. Lush, sweet juicy red fruits, chocolate, and caramel coat the palate. Full-bodied and impressive, the silky mouthfeel leaves you with mouthwatering acidity and a touch of fresh sage on the finish. Extremely approachable. Drink now or over the next 5 years.
Brix at harvest: 26.4°
This wine immediately captures your attention after the initial soft entry dives suddenly into a concentration of dense black fruits (blackberries, figs, and plums) and finishes with gripping tannins. Black fruits, currants, and black licorice dominate the nose. Smoky aromas of tar, cigar box, tobacco pipe complement the fruit notes, along with a hint of fresh herbs and spices. Big and powerful. Lots of baking spices and white pepper coat the finish. Drink/Hold over the next 7-10 years.
Full bouquet of fresh roses, wild violets and dried flowers that settle into fresh juicy fruit aromas that bring to mind sweet candied strawberry and sugar plums. The oak influence is more apparent here, bringing forth aromas of smoke and dark spices. Powerful presence and velvety texture throughout with densely packed ripe fruit flavors. Unexpectedly light and silky given its bold structure, which is due to the higher natural acidity of the Petit Verdot variety, and it leaves the palate wanting another taste! Drink/Hold over the next 7–15 years.
Rich explosive aromatics showing vibrant red and black fruits, layers of tobacco, dark cocoa, hints of wet stone and caramel. A complex medley of flavors on the palate recalls black cherry and currants. The wine softly builds intensity towards the finish. The initial silky entry is followed by a fuller mid-palate and finishes with strong powerful tannins. The 2013 Viader certainly makes a deliciously bold statement. DRINK/HOLD over the next 7–15 years.
Viader 2013 Red (Napa Valley). A slight majority of Cabernet Sauvignon is blended with 47% Cabernet Franc to offer an explosion of chocolate, blackberry jam and bitter black tea against more classical undertones of brushy sage and cedar. A powerhouse of a wine, it finishes in grippy tannin and oak. Cellar through 2023. Cellar Selection. —V.B.
A skyscraper-sized blend of 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Syrah, 9% Cabernet Franc and 4% Malbec, this is a generously structured, tannic and bold expression of plum, leather and pencil lead that leans into gamy, black pepper notes as well. Velvety smooth, it has years to go in the bottle. Cellar through 2025.
