2010 Dunn Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley
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Tasting notes
Saturated medium ruby. Very pure but tight aromas of blackberry, black cherry, licorice and violet. Sappy, savory and hugely concentrated, displaying remarkable depth of texture to its classically dry, rich flavors of dark fruits, crushed rock, espresso, violet and subtle herbs. Delivers an uncanny combination of fine-grained texture, thickness and inner-mouth energy. Like so many 2010 Napa Cabernets, this wine is as much about soil and savory mineral tones as it is about primary fruit. Wonderfully concentrated, dense, tactile wine, but very unevolved today. The firm, broad tannins are perfectly buffered by material, spreading out to coat the front teeth and upper lips. Not at all a sweet style; in fact, the wine's salinity adds another dimension. With its healthy acidity and great palate-staining length, this splendid Cabernet really calls for another decade in the cellar. It may have an aging curve like a top vintage of Château Latour.
Critic scores
Robert Parker
Julia Harding MW, jancisrobinson.com
More reviews and scores
The 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa exhibits classic notes of crème de cassis and forest floor in a rich, chocolaty, well-made, pure style. Dunn is famous for watering back the alcohol levels after picking very ripe, but this wine is beautifully balanced with sweet tannin as well as lots of blue and black fruits that handsomely reflect Napa’s strength with this varietal. Drink it over the next 10-15 years as the tannins are slightly more civilized and softer than some of Dunn’s ancient vintages.
(13.9% alcohol): Bright, deep red. Wild, highly aromatic nose combines raspberry, blackberry, coffee, leather and mocha. Broad, ripe and dry, with peppery acidity and a deep spicy character lifting the dried cherry, dark berry and pipe tobacco flavors. Savory and claret-like cabernet with a very long finish featuring fine-grained tannins and subtle notes of leather, black cardamom, black tea and licorice.
Exotic, aromatic and expressive, the 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley is incredibly beautiful today. Dark cherry, plum, spices, violets and lavender are some of the many notes that take shape in the glass. The 2010 is surprisingly accessible for a young wine from Dunn, but it has also only recently been bottled, so I will not be surprised if it shuts down a bit over the next few months. The finish is long, silky and exquisite. In 2010, the Napa Valley is mostly fruit from Dunn's Lake Vineyard, a cold, late-ripening site planted between 2000 and 2002 on a plateau at 1,800 feet, a stone's throw from the winery, so the Napa is essentially all Howell Mountain fruit. Dunn fans won't want to miss the 2010. It is stellar.