What's So Special About Napa Cabs?

It's been over 30 years since the Judgment of Paris wine tasting put Californian Cabernet Sauvignons front and center on the world's stage. If you haven't read the history (or seen the romanticized film Bottle Shock), European winemakers and afficionados used to look down their noses at American wine. Were they surprised when the Stag's Leap Wine Cellars 1973 Stags Leap District Cabernet Sauvignon beat out classified Bordeaux Estates like Château Mouton Rothschild, Château Montrose, Château Haut-Brion and Château Léoville-Las Cases in a blind tasting conducted by French wine experts!

Since then, Napa winemaking has grown (in stature and in physical dimensions) to become an internationally recognized wine powerhouse. Year after year, stellar wines have cemented Napa's reputation. The quintessential Napa Cab is layered, complex, but with texture and structure to allow the aromas and flavors reveal themselves.

Interestingly, only 9% of Napa Valley is planted in vineyards. Despite its huge reputation, Napa wines represent just 4% of California's wine production--a reason, besides the taste, that Napa wines sell at a premium.