More About 2012 GRAND NAPA MASTER RED NAPA VALLEY Customers often ask how we uncover so many truly compelling wines. The honest answer is volume, discipline, and restraint. Alongside our professional tasting panel, I taste more than seventy wines each week, spanning regions, styles, and price points. Many are competent but forgettable, and a fair number never rise above mediocrity. We commit to this process so our customers do not have to, narrowing an overwhelming field down to the rare bottles that genuinely stand out for their balance, character, and sense of place. When one does, it is immediately clear. This wine is a perfect example. Grand Napa Master Red opens with an expansive, mountain-driven profile that immediately fills the palate. Dark fruit flavors lean toward chocolate-covered blueberries and mountain blackberry, supported by notes of espresso roast and dried violets. The wine carries impressive richness, yet it moves with control and clarity, gliding across the palate with layered texture rather than weight. Its intensity feels shaped by site rather than extraction, giving the wine both breadth and definition. Sourced from a steep, rocky hillside vineyard situated between St. Helena and Howell Mountain, the Master Red reflects the structure and natural concentration typical of elevated Napa sites. A blend of Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon, it balances authority with polish. Cabernet Sauvignon provides backbone and depth, while Cabernet Franc contributes aromatic lift and finesse. Mineral-tinged dark berries, crème de cassis, Baker’s chocolate, and subtle pipe tobacco unfold as the wine evolves in the glass. The 2012 vintage is drinking beautifully now, showing integration, depth, and composure, and it rewards both immediate enjoyment and thoughtful cellaring.