2006 The Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon

Bright, full ruby. Currant, loam, roasted herbs and sexy oak tones of mocha, milk chocolate and Kahlua on the nose. Sweet, dense and rather powerful, with impressive thickness to the ripe dark currant flavor. This chewy but rather chunky wine seems more heavily extracted than the 2007, which is every bit as rich but distinctly smoother. Finishes with big, broad, toothcoating tannins.

The 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon The Ranch (composed of 82% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc and a dollop of Petit Verdot) offers up aromas of burning embers, blackberries, cassis, licorice, and a touch of bouquet garni. The complex aromatics are followed by a full-bodied wine displaying velvety tannin, and a bold finish with considerable depth as well as length. Drink this excellent Napa Cabernet over the next 15-20 years. Qualitatively, Snowden is an awakening giant, but as is the case with many Napa estates, production is limited (1,000 cases of The Ranch and 700 of the Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve). These cuvees are produced from one of Napa’s most privileged sites, 23 acres of beautiful hillside vineyards above the Auberge du Soleil, and adjacent to the Sloan and Hall properties. Proprietor Scott Snowden, working with his gifted daughter, Diane (who is married to Jeremy Seysses of Domaine Dujac), and consultant David Ramey, is pushing the pedal to the metal at Snowden. Tel. and Fax: (707) 963-4292