Far Niente Cabernet Sauvignon - $259.99

Wine Details

Price: $259.99
Producer: Far Niente Winery
Region: Oakville
Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon
Container Size: 750 ML
Flavors: currant, wild berry
  • Red Wine
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Product Description

  • Notes of dense, black fruit, anise and blackberries appear up front followed by hints of fruit jam and dark chocolate. In the mouth, this wine unfolds in layers, beginning with a round and supple entry, and progressing to a full, weighty structure on the palate. The silky tannins are textured and coating, producing a wine that is smooth from start to finish.

Expert Ratings

Ratings   Vintage Source Flavors
WineSpectator - 86 Details: Intense and focused, if a bit raw and rustic, with racy, brambly wild berry and currant flavors that are framed by tight, rich, chewy tannins. Finishes with drying, mouthcoating tannins. Decant. Best from 2008 through 2012. 8,500 cases made. –JL 2003 WineSpectator currant, wild berry
WineSpectator - 93 Details: Intense, with a tannic structure, yet the plush currant, anise, earth and cedar flavors push to the forefront and show an excellent range of depth and concentration. The finish turns tight, with a burst of plum, berry, cedar and tobacco. Best from 2006 through 2013. 8,100 cases made. –JL 2002 WineSpectator anise, berry, cedar, currant, earth, plum, tobacco
WineAndSpirits - 92 Details: With its ripe black fruit gloved seamlessly in oak, this vintage of Far Niente boasts Oakville élan and charm. It's soft and smooth, all the berry flavor tightly held by tannin, needing age to reach its full complexity. 2002 WineAndSpirits berry, black fruit, oak
WineSpectator - 93 Details: Excellent structure, depth and richness, deftly balanced, with a firm core of well-defined earthy currant, sage, plum and pencil lead flavors and finishing with a burst of concentrated flavors and ripe, fine-grained tannins. Drink now through 2012. 8,100 cases made. –JL 2001 WineSpectator currant, earthy, plum, sage
WineEnthusiast - 91 Details: Well made and classic, a wine that combines potency of fruit and firm tannins with a graceful harmony that makes it easy to drink tonight. Oak adds smoky vanillins as an additional theme. As fine as it is now, the wonderful balance ensures longterm aging through the next decade. 2001 WineEnthusiast oak, smoky
WineAdvocate - 88 Details: One of the finest Cabernets to emerge from this expensive and self-conscious winery, Far Niente’s 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville Estate offers a deep ruby/purple color as well as fragrant aromas of black cherries and currants. Elegant and medium-bodied, with soft tannin and fine balance, it can be drunk now and over the next 7-8 years. Tel. (707) 944-2861; Fax (707) 944-2312 2001 WineAdvocate
WineSpectator - 88 Details: Well-built if a bit lean, with spice, mineral, herb, olive and currant flavors shaded by light oak. Well-focused, this aims for elegance and restraint at the expense of riper, fuller or oakier flavors. Drink now through 2010. 14,345 cases made. –JL 1999 WineSpectator
WineSpectator - 87 Details: Ripe, with supple black cherry, earth, anise and red plum flavors that are elegant and appealing. Holds its focus and shows a measure of finesse and grace. Drink now through 2007. 12,600 cases made. –JL 1998 WineSpectator anise, black cherry, earth, red plum
Tastings - 93 Details: Deep, saturated blackish-garnet hue. Classic "Rutherford dust" aromas come with a brush of integrated oak. A lush entry leads to a rounded, supple, moderately full-bodied palate with some olivey complexities. A very polished textbook Napa style. Drink now or later 1998 Tastings oak
WineEnthusiast - 93 Details: Earthy, meaty and spicy-it’s what Napa Cabernet is supposed to be. Perfectly balanced, smooth and totally correct, it has cherry and chocolate in spades and lots of grip. In the end it’s all about class and performance. 1997 WineEnthusiast cherry, chocolate, earthy, meaty
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Food Pairings

Category Pairing
Cheese Blue Cheese, Provolone, Brie
Red Meat Roast Beef, Barbeque Pulled-Pork or Ribs, Veal Carpaccio, Game, Sausage, Variety Meats or Organ Meats, Kidney
Poultry & Eggs Game Birds
Vegetables Potatoes, Roasted Mixed Vegetables
Fish or Shellfish Sea Bass
Sauces Red Wine Sauce
Herbs & Spices Basil, Mint, Oregano, Rosemary, Thyme

Wine Terms

Name Value
Cabernet Sauvignon (cab er nay saw vee nyon)—This highly adaptable grape grows almost anywhere it is relatively warm, but the best wines come from the Burgundy region of France (where it is a noble variety), California, and Australia. It became famous through the red wines of the Médoc district of Bordeaux and is now grown in Washington, southern France, Italy, Australia, South Africa, Chile, and Argentina. Cabernet Sauvignon grapes make wines that are high in tannin and medium- to full-bodied. Usually identified as having black currant or cassis flavors, the grape can also possess vegetal tones when the grapes are less than ideally ripe. The best wines are rich and firm with great depth, and are often aged for fifteen years or more. Because it is highly tannic, Cabernet Sauvignon is often blended with other less-tannic grapes such as Merlot.
United States Wineries exist in all fifty states, but the most predominant (and best) wine comes from Northern California, Oregon, and Washington State, with New York gaining a foothold in the industry. American wines make up about 75% of all wine sales in the US. The appellation system uses the term AVA (American Viticultural Area) to determine where wines were produced, but grape varieties can be planted anywhere in the country. American wineries generally use varietal labeling, and government regulations require that the variety on the label must make up at least 75% of the blend (in Oregon it’s 90%). The words reserve, special selection, private reserve, classic, and so on have no legal definition in the US. Some wineries use these terms to indicate their better wines; others use the words as a marketing tool to move lower quality wines off the shelf.
California California produces the majority of wine made in the United States. Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Sauvignon Blanc, Zinfandel and Pinot Noir dominate the wine production in California, but many other varietials thrive in the California climate. Many fine wines are produced in California using Mediterranean grapes.
Napa County Napa County is located north of the San Francisco Bay Area in California. At the north end of Napa County is the Bay Area's second tallest peak Mount Saint Helena, and to the far south of Napa County lays the section of the Napa Valley that bleeds into Carneros. When the first white settlers arrived in the early 1830s, there were six tribes in the valley speaking different dialects and they were often at war with each other. The Mayacomos tribe lived in the area where Calistoga was founded. Napa County was one of the original counties of California, created in 1850 at the time of statehood. Napa Valley is widely considered one of the top wine regions in California and all of the United States. By the end of the nineteenth century there were more than one hundred and forty wineries in the area. Today Napa Valley features more than two hundred wineries and grows many different grape varieties including Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Merlot, and Zinfandel. The region is visited by as many as five million people each year, making it the second to Disneyland as the most popular tourist destination in California.

Tasting Notes

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