Abreu Madrona Ranch - Cabernet Sauvignon - Napa County 2013

David Abreu's vinous roots must undoubtedly be sought at Madrona Ranch, which was the first field he fell in love with and developed from scratch back in the 1980s. The area contains significant height differences, and the field itself winds through the valley with many changes in soil and exposure directions. It provides exceptionally varied soil conditions with Aiken soil of volcanic origin, white tuff, clay and bedrock. Such a complex soil is very demanding to grow wine on, but David Abreu has succeeded in turning this difference into a significant advantage. Madrona Ranch Cabernet has a unique complexity, which is achieved by harvesting small quantities of the grapes in many rounds and allowing the harvest period to extend over a long period of time so that the ripeness is optimal on all the soil types.

David Abreu focuses almost exclusively on delivering single-field wines, where it is about having the largest possible selection of cuvées, so that you can produce the desired wine style year after year. Usually different grape varieties are used, but Madrona Ranch's great geological and climatic differences automatically give David Abreu and Brad Grimes all the strings to play on that any winemaker could dream of.

Year after year, Madrona Ranch also delivers top wines, and in 2013 it reached the magical three-digit Parker score. Here's a quote from The Wine Advocate: Madrona Ranch 2013 behaves in many ways like a mature and complex Premier Grand Cru Classé from Pauillac. It has the classic aroma picture with blackberries, Crème de Cassis blackcurrants and is added a touch of licorice, black truffle and graphite. It is almost unimaginably fragrant and with its extreme fullness and richness of extract it contains all the sumptuous tannin you could wish for. It is a thoroughly astonishing wine, the result of a singularly successful effort by Abreu and Grimes. The wine consists predominantly of Cabernet Sauvignon, but 35 percent Cabernet Franc plus a small amount of Petit Verdot has been added. 100 points.

100 points - Robert Parker
The 2013 Madrona Ranch hits the magic three-digit score. It is literally a 30- to 45-year wine in itself. It behaves like a ripe, complex first growth Pauillac, with blackberry and crème de cassis, a touch of licorice, black truffle, pen ink and graphite. Incredibly fragrant, extremely full-bodied, with abundant tannin but also enormous fruit extract and richness, it is an amazing wine and a profound effort from Abreu and Grimes.

"Kudos to David Abreu and Brad Grimes, not only for their obsessive perfectionist work in the vineyards, but for producing wines as unmanipulated, pure and world-class as money can buy." - Robert Parker.