According to Joe Harden," I think CC Ranch Vineyard is one of the prettiest wines we make and it’s one of my favorite wines we make. I love them all, but I think it’s very distinct aromatically, there is always like this dried herb aromatic and this pretty red fruit, really soft and silky. Not a big structured mountain wine, it is really elegant, it’s kind of pretty. It’s got a little more acid. I think it is very distinct, distinctively different than Sullinger."

This bottling is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon sourced and grown in gravely loam soils from the knoll west of the Silverado Trail within the Rutherford AVA of Napa Valley. This is one of the distinguished and sophisticated bottlings of Cabernet Sauvignon from Nickel & Nickel. The deep garnet shadow of this wine unfurls gracefully with dusty aromatics and a wealth of satiny red fruits, typical to this appellation. Macerated red plums, Morello cherries and creme de cassis are intermixed with cocoa, a whisper of graphite and vanilla bean shavings. This is a gorgeously balanced wine with plenty of appealing richness and spices in the mid-palate that continue through the length of the wine. While approachable, this wine will definitely gain more complexity over time.

By W Peter Hoyne