Maroon Wines
2010 Single Vineyard Calistoga Appellation Cabernet Sauvignon
Cabernet Sauvignon •Single Vineyard
Calistoga
Mission Briefing
Best yet
Today we are thrilled to be featuring a great Napa Cabernet Sauvignon from our old friends at Maroon Wines. Over the last 7 years, we’ve featured wines from this winery nearly a dozen times. Always, the wines are fantastic. Today’s wine is even better!
Today’s Maroon Wines 2010 Single Vineyard Calistoga Appellation Cabernet Sauvignon is a lush, elegant and big Cabernet Sauvignon that shows off the unique terroir of the Calistoga Appellation. The Calistoga AVA is situated at the northern end of the Napa Valley. The soils here are almost exclusively volcanic and the temperature swings are enormous, with 100 degree days cooled by the breezes that come off of the Russian River Valley AVA to the west. In fact, Calistoga enjoys the highest diurnal temperature variation in the entire Napa Valley - which places wonderful stress on the grapes that grow here.
When James Laube, senior editor of Wine Spectator Magazine, awarded the 2010 Napa Valley Cabernet vintage a decades-high 98 point score, it became our mission to seek out the best ’10s that we could find. Once we find them, they are scrutinized by our tasting panel. If these wines make it onto our site, you can be assured of their superlative quality.
Tasting Profile
| Look: | Deep, foreboding scarlet at its core, only slowly transitioning to a lighter ruby fringe. At the very center of the glass, the wine is nearly perfectly opaque. |
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| Smell: | Robust, with deep notes of dark blackberry, black cherry, and black currant, trailed by sweet tobacco, fresh cedarwood shavings, espresso bean, black pepper, sage, and a hint of clove. |
| Taste: | Lush and elegant, with black plum and boysenberry delicately laid overtop berry bramble, sandalwood cigar box, saddle leather, clove, anise, freshly cracked black peppercorn, and a subtle note of mint. |
| Finish: | Long, lasting, and beautifully balanced, this wine is well structured, with velvety tannins and lovely acidity. As the fruit slowly fades, a slight pomegranate herbal tea note is left at the very end. |
| Pairing: | A perfectly seared filet mignon, served with freshly picked mushrooms and a rosemary herbal butter. |
What the Winery Says
This wine has dark fruit aromas and also a beam of spicy fruit on the nose. The texture is medium bodied with well balanced acidity and a medium length finish. With the nice balanced acidity, this wine should age gracefully for the next 5+ years.
- Winemaker
- Paul Maroon
- Appellation
- Calistoga, Napa Valley, California
- Vineyard
- 100% Single Vineyard
- Fruit Variety
- 100% Cabernet Sauvignon
- ABV
- 13.8%
About the Winery
Paul Maroon became interested in winemaking over 40 years ago while as a young man helping his uncle make wine in Pennsylvania. In the back of his mind he always knew that for him Napa Valley was the place to be. Paul visited as often as possible throughout the years and finally in 2000 realized his dream and relocated to the Napa Valley. Here he began his life as a vintner and Paul has been growing grapes and making fine wines ever since.