92 Points - Beverage Tasting Institute
Gold Medal - Winemakers' Challenge
Gold Medal - Sommelier Challenge
With so many new wine labels popping up each year, and so many older family-run wineries being sold off to big companies, it seems like a great achievement when a small winery can make it to even its ten-year anniversary. To make it to 30 years and beyond, as Hagafen Cellars has done under the original owners Ernie and Irit Weir, is truly a special accomplishment. Today we are offering Hagafen’s 2008 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, a special bottling which commemorates Hagafen’s 30th anniversary.
The 2008 Napa Cabernet is sourced from the Weir Family Vineyard, from the pirzed area along Silverado Trail between Stag’s Leap and Oak Knoll that is home to so many great Cabernet vineyards. Deep ruby in color even at 6 years of age, this must have been an extremely dark wine at bottling. The nose shows classic Cabernet notes of crèmes de cases, cherry, leather and cedar. The palate shows cherry, cigar box, vanilla, and an herbal note, along with a hint of plum that may be coming from the addition of 5% Merlot. Fine grained yet still chewy tannin and spice linger on the finish. This is a marvelous Napa Cabernet, just hitting its prime drinking window now, and a bargain in a region where $40 is generally the starting point for Cabernet, let alone for one of this quality.
Vintage: 2008
Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon
Appellation: Napa Valley
Harvest Date: September 24th, 2008
Sugar: 25.0° Brix at harvest
Acid: 6.2 g/L
pH: 3.69
Alcohol %: 13.6
Gold Medal
Generously packed with black cherry, cola, cassis, and plum that all intermingle together in a creamy, velvety texture with great layering, finishing with delightful notes of oak and spice. Persistent, well-defined structure, wonderfully balanced.
90 Points
Rich and voluptuous with ripe raspberry, cherry, and plum, layered with hints of lavender, fig compote, and exotic spice. Concentrated and complex, the palate is a balanced interplay cocoa, and a hint of espresso, creating both richness and intrigue. Vibrant acidity and silky tannins that contribute heft and length that coat the palate with luscious ripeness that keeps on giving.
Exceptional!
Reddish-purple in color with aromas of blackberry, plum, pomegranate, herbs de Provence, and licorice. The palate is full, structured and balanced with blackberry, currant, black cherry, cassis, and licorice that carries through, with notes of black pepper, mocha and chocolate. Very long, spicy, with a fruit-driven finish. Great aging potential.
94 Points
A classic expression of coastal influenced Chardonnay with aromas of honey, apple chutney, lime blossom, and gentle Indian spice box undertones. A big juicy entry on the palate, showing a silky texture with excellent tension and structure, ending with a complex, layered finish.
Gold Medal
Light pink in color with aromas of watermelon, cranberry, orange rind, and fresh spring flowers that leap from the glass. The palate offers more peach, strawberry, and melon, with an intriguing note of rose and hibiscus. It's crisp with just the perfect hint of red fruit, and delicate whisper of strawberry that gives goosebumps.
