YAO MING Family Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 2011
94 Points - Wine Enthusiast
TASTING NOTES
Appearance exhibits rich purple color with red hues. This wine is elegant. There is a purity of fruit with pronounced plum. The fruit is framed with barrel notes of spice and baking chocolate. The pallet has firm yet, supple richness from integrated tannin structure. . The wine comes together on the finish and lingers on the back of the pallet providing a long finish This wine is approachable now and will age for 7 years. The 2011 growing season is one of the coolest on record in the Napa Valley. Our winemaking patience has paid off and this is truly a winemakers’ vintage.
WINEMAKING
Fruit was rigorously hand-sorted and fully destemmed to small stainless steel tanks with light crushing. Cold soaks (5-7 days), warm fermentations between 29– 32°C (85-90°F), and moderate pumpovers twice each day. Total skin contact ranged from 19-34 days with all fermentations being carefully basket pressed and put to barrel on full fermentation lees for malolactic fermentation (ML). Racking was twice per year with only one assemblage being done to allow the blend to “marry” in barrel. Barrels for final blend were hand selected by taste. Native yeast and ML used with only small lots conducted using cultured Bordeaux isolates. Bottled without filtration.