YAO MING Family Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 2010

98 Points - Wine Enthusiast

95 Points - Robert Parker

TASTING NOTES

Appearance exhibits dark purple and ruby color. Firm and dense with ultra rich depth. Intense black current, wild berry and mocha with gravel and rose petal floral scents. The mouth is seamless and chewy with silkiness in the finish. Vanilla, cedar and spice notes build in the length. This wine will age and develop over many years.

WINEMAKING

Fruit was rigorously hand sorted and fully destemmed to small stainless steel tanks with no crushing. Cold soaks (5-7 days), warm fermentations (85-90° F), and moderate pumpovers (twice a day or less) were done this year in order to adapt to what nature gave us. Total skin contact ranged from 21-40 days with all fermentations being carefully basket pressed and put to barrel on full fermentation lees for ML. Racking was twice per year with only one assemblage being done to allow the blend to “marry” in barrel. Native yeast and ML used with only small lots conducted using cultured Bordeaux isolates. Bottled without filtration.