von Strasser Winery
2011 Rudy Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
Cabernet Sauvignon
California: Napa Valley
Mission Briefing
Codename:The Cabfather
Our best-selling under $25 Cabernet Sauvignon of all time is a previous vintage of today’s wonderful wine. Why? Because, where most wines made by Rudy von Strasser sell for $75, today’s 2011 Rudy Napa Cabernet is an extraordinary - and delicious - value.
Praise be to Rudy von Strasser, the father of some of our very favorite Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon!
Rudy’s von Strasser Winery is home to hotly sought-after Cabs that earn scores in the high 90s, at prices that are out of reach for many an Operative. That’s where Rudy’s Rudy label comes in. Designed to deliver big Napa style at a fraction of the usual price, Rudy wines really deliver.
Today’s 2011 Rudy Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is the worthy successor to our most popular sub-$25 Cabernet ever - so please be sure to grab some of this very highly recommended and ultra-high QPR (Quality to Price Ratio) wine, before we run out. The winery only allowed us a small allocation and we will likely sell out before midnight.
Tasting Profile
| Look: | Dark purple hues with a slightly inky core. At the meniscus, a pretty ring of dark garnet encircles the wine. |
|---|---|
| Smell: | Balanced on the nose, with fruit, oak and spice playing together beautifully. Blackberry, black cherry, cassis and dark plum meld with sandalwood and soft baking spices. |
| Taste: | Smooth on entry, with dark fruit of cassis, dried cherry, dried blueberry and plum spread across the palate. Cocoa, tobacco, sandalwood and spice flavors appear mostly at the edges of the palate, providing a solid foundation. |
| Finish: | Dark fruits tail off very slowly, gradually drying the palate from the center outward. |
| Pairing: | Grilled pork chops with rosemary. Enjoy with sides of cranberry applesauce and a dollop of sour cream. |
What the Winery Says
Think of this wine as our entry-level Cabernet Sauvignon. Just don’t think of it as a typical entry-level Cabernet Sauvignon. This wine is so much more. For those wine drinkers that have never sampled our award-winning Mountain Cabernet, this is the perfect wine by which to get to know us.
This approachable wine is blend of our five single vineyards all within the Napa Valley. The wine offers a softer, refined style that is framed its fruit forward nature. Right out of the bottle, the fragrant nose is pleasing and inviting. Layered with dark fruit of blueberry and blackberry, the wine leads to fig, cassis and pie spice. Finishes off with supple tannins to enjoy now or up to 10 years.
- Winemaker
- Rudy von Strasser
- Appellation
- Napa Valley, California
- ABV
- 13.5%
About the Winery
Shortly after their marriage in 1989, Rudy and Rita von Strasser set out looking for a vineyard property to make their home. Having already developed a deep passion and talent for producing Cabernet Sauvignon, Rudy was committed that the property must be in a microclimate blessed with the ability to grow and produce the finest red wines in Napa Valley; wines worthy to carry the von Strasser family name. Serendipitously, the old Roddis Estate Winery on Diamond Mountain had just been put on the market, and in the spring of 1990, the von Strasser label was born.
As you drive up Diamond Mountain Road, you leave the valley floor and the crowds behind you and enter a property which many describe as “early Californian.” However, the beauty of the setting is second only to the quality of the wine and personalized attention you will receive.
Winemaker Rudy von Strasser
Owner/Winemaker Rudy von Strasser is a first generation American citizen; his mother is from Hungary and his father is an Austria. He studied winemaking at UC Davis, and after an internship at Chateau Lafite-Rothschild Rudy worked as Enologist at Napa Valley’s Trefethen Family Vineyards for two years, and as Assistant Winemaker at Newton Vineyard for three years. In 1990 Rudy and his wife Rita started their eponymous winery in Napa Valley’s Diamond Mountain District, and quickly became famous for their age-worthy single-vineyard Cabernet Sauvignons.
Rudy’s winemaking philosophy centers on the concept that great wines are created in the vineyard and not in the winery. His most important winemaking tool is his palate: his ability to understand and analyze each vineyard’s wine potential through the tasting of the grapes. All of the grapes used in the von Strasser label are picked at their optimum ripeness when the flavors are peaking and the tannins have become ripe and soft. The end result is wine of great extract and a tannin complex which is both huge and soft at the same time. The resultant mouth feel is often described as being “chewy”, and makes these hillside wines both approachable when young, yet also worthy of further development with age.